NeT│Info│BooK: Blogging

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How do I delete a blog at Blogger?

This is in response to Hunter who asked "...how do I delete my blog at Blogger?". As many of you might be aware, Blogger is a service owned by Google that lets you make a free blog or a web log. If you no longer wish to maintain the blog web site, you can either ignore or delete it altogether. But this is not so straightforward.

The thing is, your Blogger account is tied up with your Google account and the problem of deleting a blog at this service becomes complex if you are using other services offered by the company. At the time of writing, there is no direct way of closing just your Blogger account. You can, however, delete your Google account which means you have to let go of all the other services you may be using - Gmail, Talk, Orkut etc.

[On a side note, please refer how to close and delete your Gmail account if you don't want to use the free email service from Google.]

Thus, you cannot close your Blogger account but can delete individual blogs and your personal details. To do this, log in to your Blogger account. At the Dashboard, click on the "Settings" link under the blog you want to delete.

This takes you to the "Basics" tab of the settings section. You'll find the "Delete blog" near the top - click on it and then confirm you action on the next page. That's it, your blog is has now been closed.

I also suggest that you clean up your profile page and remove any personal details and for the required form fields, enter any false information.

Get your own domain name

All you need to do is to visit a domain registrar web site, find a suitable domain name and register it. Contrary to what you may think or feel; no "special" technical knowledge is required - just a little common sense and that too only during the process of selecting a suitable domain name. As long as you know how to use a computer and browse the web, by following the detailed instructions on this page you shall be able to get your own domain name in a few minutes.

But before we get into that, here are a few things you should know:
Domain name are not free: You may find some companies, usually web hosting firms, advertising free domain names boldly on their web sites. This is a kind of marketing stunt to lure visitors into purchasing hosting, email accounts or other add-ons - the cost of the domain name is adjusted in the cost of the extras on offer.

Registration of the domain name and renewal: Domain names are registered for a period of minimum one year. The next year, you have to renew the domain name if you still want to retain and use it. You can also register or renew a domain name for several years at a time which would save you some money.

Domain name, email and web site: getting your own domain name does not mean you'll get your own email or a web site. These are extras that you need to purchase in addition to the domain name. We'll hit upon this point below.

Where can you get a domain name?

Domain names can be purchased from domain name registrars. There are plenty of such companies but I advice getting your domain names from a reliable one such as Network Solutions. This company was the first in the world to sell domain names and is still the best.
How to pick a domain name?

Enter the name you want in the box above, choose an extension and check out if it's available. I'm sure you already know that domain names need to be unique. Like email addresses, no two people can have the same domain name. This also implies that if the domain name you want belongs to someone else, you need to choose another one. Getting a good domain name that will correctly reflect your online objectives can be frustrating as all suitable domain names may be unavailable but perseverance and patience are two virtues that will help you a lot during this process. I also suggest you read "what is a domain name" and country specific domain name for tips.

Once you do get a domain name of your liking, all you need to do is follow create an account on NetworkSolutions by entering your details (such as you name, contact address etc.) and forwarding the payment. It's like buying a product online and is a simple process.

Can I ask someone else to register my own domain?
Please don't! Registering a domain name on your own will ensure that it belongs to you and no one can have a control over it. And talking about control, each domain name is associated with three contacts - Administrative contact determines who manages it and is probably the most important, the Billing contact specifies who is responsible for the renewal and the Technical contact points to the person who governs the technical aspect. Ideally, all the three should be in your name and carry your postal as well as your email address.

How much does a domain name cost?
Domain names are pretty cheap costing about $10-$30 for one year. The cost to you will decrease if you register a domain name for multiple years such as 5 or 10 - advisable! The price also varies depending on the extension of the domain name. For example, the cost of a country specific .co.uk may be higher than a .com.

Will buying a domain name get me email or a web site?
No! When you register a domain name, that's all you get! You can purchase email accounts and a basic web site along with the domain name and this is why I highly recommend NetworkSolutions - they make the process very easy for beginners.

Very important last words
Please understand, a domain name is simply a name - an online identity. It is very important that you register this with a reliable company such as Network Solutions. If you lose your domain name, you will not be able to use any email accounts associated with it and will also have to change your web site address. Do not go to companies that offer domain names at a slightly cheaper price because if they shut down their business (and this happens frequently), you would be left high and dry.

How to make a blog web site?

A blog, also called a web-log, is a type of web site. Past few years, blogs have become very popular as these are extremely easy to create and even simpler to manage and update. And with many free blog services that have mushroomed, this segment of the internet has grown exponentially. In this article I shall be providing instructions on how you can make a blog web site for free using one of the best services - Google's Blogger. I've also included screenshots so that you can follow the directions easily and get an online presence quickly.

Whether you want to make a blog for yourself or for your company, the process is almost the same. And since this article has been written primarily for the beginner, I assume little or no technical knowledge - you should, however, know how to operate a computer and surf the internet.

Please understand that there are several ways to make blog for free - you can even put up one on your web site - but to make things simple to digest we shall be working only with the Blogger service.

Blogger - Google's free service in which you can make a blog
Head off to Blogger.com or click on that link. To make your first blog at Blogger, you need to first get an account at the service or use an existing Google account. Thus, if you already have a Gmail email account, use the same username and password to sign in and jump straight to how to create a blog web site page for detailed instructions and screenshots.

For people who don't have Google account; please follow the steps below.

Making a Google account
FYI, detailed instructions can be found on how do I create a Google account but if you don't want to jump across pages, here is a brief on the same.

Click on the large orange colored "Create a blog" button on the page.

Enter your email address in the first two fields. Don't have one yet? Please refer how to get an email address for details. Choose a password and put it in the next two fields. Keep an eye on the password strength bar and make sure it's not something people can guess outright and, at the same time, it's not so complex that even you are not able to recall later on. The next field requires you to type in a display name which can be your real name or something else... whatever you want. The process is almost over - try to decipher the wavy security text and enter it in the field below. Hit on the "Continue" button when done.

Open another browser window / tab and go to the email account you had entered when making the blog account. You should see an email from Google asking you to verify the newly created account - click on the appropriate link.

Hold on to your horses, the fun is about to start - read the next page to know how to create a blog web site.

Make web site icon

I used to have the Google web site icon on my desktop. It seems to have disappeared... probably deleted by accident by my little girl who was havin g a ball on the ClubPenguin web site. How can I make this web site icon and have it on the desktop?

A web site icon on the desktop certainly saves time. No need to start the browser program, type the URL and hit enter - clicking the icon does all this on its own. FYI, the icon on the desktop is actually NOT the real web site but a short cut. Anyway, here is how you can quickly make a web site icon and place it on your computers desktop.

Make a web site icon on the desktop - example: Google.com
I'm going to take the example of the popular search engine, Google.com, to make a web site icon on the desktop. The steps are simple and involve basic mouse actions - the screenshots are provided below if you get confused.

           Start your favorite web browser and point it to the Google web site - www.google.com.
           Then decrease the size of the browser window (if it's maximized) so that some part of the desktop is visible on the screen. You might also like to minimize all other program windows too.
           Now select the URL that's displayed in the address bar of the browser - simply clicking on it will work. Don't let go of the mouse key yet! With the key still depressed, drag it to the desktop area that's visible.
           That's it! You've been able to make a web site icon and place it on the desktop in a few seconds.
Create Google web site icon with Internet Explorer and Google Chrome
The method to make a web site icon remains almost the same whichever browser you employ. Here are the screenshots from Internet Explorer (the most popular web browser) and Google Chrome (my favourite).

Programming languages on the internet

The capabilities of the Internet have been enhanced and extended by using programming languages with HTML. These languages have been responsible for the dynamic and interactive nature of the Net. New languages and language extensions are being developed to increase the usability of the Internet. Here I will look at some of the important languages that have shape the Internet over the years.

HTML - HyperText Markup Language
HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the lingua franca of the Internet. It is the language used to develop web pages. Hypertext means that some text in the HTML document carries a link to a different location, which can be on the same page or another page. On clicking this 'hot spot', the viewer is transferred to that location. Markup means that specific portions of a document are marked up to indicate how they should be displayed in the browser.
According to purists, HTML is not a language per se, and they are right in one way. HTML simply consists of tags that are placed around elements, which then changes the properties of these enclosed elements. There are hundreds of HTML tags and some of these are proprietary, which means that only some browsers recognize them.

CGI - Common Gateway Interface
The Common Gateway Interface (CGI) has been around for a long time. It allows the web server software to communicate with other programs running on the server. These external programs are called CGI scripts or CGI programs and are usually written in Perl or 'C'. CGI programs are generally used to process information submitted by visitors via a form on a web page. For example, you might use the search form on a web site to look for 'cars'. When you submit your query, the server receives your request, passes it to the CGI program. The program then looks up the search query term in a database and responds with the appropriate result formatted in HTML code.

Javascript/Jscript
Javascript is a programming language that runs on a web browser. It was developed by the same folks who gave us Netscape and was first implemented in version 2 of the browser. Jscript is Microsofts' implementation of Javascript for Internet Explorer. By the by, Javascript is not a subset of Java, infact, the two languages share little in common (yes, they share a few basic concepts but the syntax is different and so is the application). Naming their language "JavaScript", was just a clever marketing ploy by Netscape Communications. It was initially called Livescript but when Sun Microsystems released Java and it became very popular, Netscape renamed their scripting language to JavaScript.

Javascript runs on the browser (client) and does not require any server software. Thus, it is a client-side scripting language. Since all execution takes place on the browser, Javascript is responsible for most of the interactivity on a web page. Image change or text color change on mouseover, creating mouse trails are all possible through Javascript. The language has also been widely used for basic form validation. This seems logical, as it is better to validate a form on the client side than to make several trips to the server. Javascript is commonly embedded inside the HTML page and is thus visible to the visitor.
Javascript can also be written to run on a server and this is based on the ASP model promoted by Microsoft.

Java
Developed by Sun Microsystems, Java is a very powerful, object-oriented language. A lot many platform dependency issues have been ironed out with the advent of Java. Thus, Java programs for Unix can be made to run on Windows or the Mac system with little or no effort. Much development is taking place on the Java front with new arrivals like Java Beans, Extended Java Beans, and Java applications for various databases and XML. Using Java servlets one can also develop dynamic Java Server Pages (JSP).

Java can also be seen on the Internet in the form of applets embedded in an HTML page. Applets are small Java programs that run on a Java compatible browser.

VBScript
VBScript is a client-based language that runs only on the Internet Explorer and quite naturally, has been developed by Microsoft. Though, the browser market share of Internet Explorer has steadily risen and overtaken that of Netscape, it is still not advisable to use VBScript as a client side language for web pages. I would prefer to use Javascript (or JScript, if you like) as it runs on all popular web browsers - Netscape, Opera, Mozilla and the Internet Explorer. However, VBScript is very often used for developing Active Server Pages (discussed below).

ASP - Active Server Pages
Active Server Pages is a technology promoted by Microsoft. The ASP utilizes some special tags, which can be embedded in the HTML code, to generate dynamic web pages. ASP scripts run on the server, typically, IIS on Windows NT. ASP pages carry the .asp extension that differentiates them from plain HTML pages and instructs the web server to pass the pages through the ASP interpreter. You can use VBScript, Javascript/Jscript or a combination of the two to write ASP pages. The great advantage in using ASP is the ease of maintenance of the web site. However, the downslide is that you become too dependent on Microsoft technologies.

PHP
Open source, great development environment - PHP is a cult. This has been the answer of open source programmers to Microsofts ASP. PHP not only carries all the goodness of ASP but also is more secure and handles databases more easily. It is a known fact that PHP on Apache Web server runs faster than ASP. PHP code is embedded inside the HTML page and can link to databases to generate dynamic HTML content. Furthermore, PHP scripts can be made to run on any operating system with little or no modification.

XML - eXtensible Markup Language
The eXtensible Markup Language is a web page developing language that enables programmers to create customized tags. These customized tags can provide the much-needed functionality not available with HTML. XML documents can be accessed using JSP, PHP etc.

There are several other languages on the Internet such as Perl, Python, VRML (Virtual Reality modeling Language), awk etc., which I have not discussed here. You can search for them on your favorite search engine.

Types of web sites

Types of web sites - a categorization based on content
Web sites, like other "worldly" things, can be classified into various categories. This page has a list of the different types of web sites based on the content and features offered. However, content can be varied, and with this in mind, I have tried to make segregation as intuitive as possible. Please note that these categories of the web sites are not distinct and can overlap... sometimes to a large degree.

Search engine, directories, yellow pages and portals
These are some of the most popular types of web sites in the world. Some search engine companies, like Google or Gigablast, prefer to keep their homepage simple and stress on only one service, while Yahoo! and MSN have a more "portal" like look via which many services are pushed to the surfer like email, news etc.

The portal look provides a broader platform for the company to promote their different services but it also fragments the visitors.

Classified directories and yellow pages web sites list businesses (both online and offline) segregated into different categories or geographic locations. These may also include an internal search engine that helps users quickly locate information.

Information web sites
These are the types of web sites are dedicated to the purpose of providing information - whether free or paid. These information web sites might be catering to a niche industry or be wider in their scope because of which they can be labelled as "news portals". Information web site can also contain updated time tables, TV guides, reference material, sports data (like cricket scores), weather and stock data.

Personal web sites
With tons of tools and services available, creating a web site is no longer "rocket science" (actually, it never was; but for some...). The astronomical number of personal web sites one finds on the web is mind-blowing! Personal web sites and blogs would probably be the fastest growing types of web site.

Personal web sites can contain any kind of information and are usually administered by a single individual who can choose whatever to put online.

Any one can now create a web site using online free hosting accounts that might also offer pre-made templates that are like ready-to-go web sites, or with free and commercial versions of WYSIWYG HTML editors like Frontpage, DreamWeaver etc.

Blogs and online diaries
Blogs are like online diaries (the irony is, though you keep your hardcopy diary under lock-and-key, you want more and more visitors to read the online one). Blogs can be created by anyone using free services like Blogger.com (Google) or Windows Live Spaces (Microsoft). You can also install blog software, like the free WordPress on your pre-existing web site and start putting your thoughts online in a matter of minutes!

Because blogs are so easy to create, manage and even earn from (there are a lot of profitable blogs online, if you didn't know), the web has increased manifold. And it's all thanks to the many free blog services and a strong enthusiasm by the ever growing blogging community who keep maintaining and updating their web space regularly.

From ramblings of a wandering mind to detailed and specific information on technical fields, the content of blog types of web site can vary widely.

Company web sites
Most company web sites have just a few pages of information on the business, its services and clients. These are more like "online brochures"

Forums
Forum types of web sites serve as platforms and promote interactions amongst the users. Unless specifically blocked and requiring a special invitation, you can join any forum on the web. Most forums cater to a specific industry or a field. So, for example, you will find forums on web design and development, banking and finance, biotechnology... I even came across one to help people share their phobia of butterflies (take a look at IHateButterflies.com - yes, I am mortally scared of butterflies and moths.

Forums on web sites, typically, contain categories that further narrow down the subject. Registered users can post questions or start a topic which other users can reply or add to. A lot of valuable information and knowledge exists in online forums and I urge you to join and actively participate in online discussions with people that share the same interests.

Ready-to-use free software such as phpBB or SMF help you set up a forum web site in a matter of minutes. If you already have a web site, check with the hosting company; they would probably provide such forum software for free which you can install via the control panel.

Online shops and auctions web sites
Though the web is primarily used for communication (email!) and information search, many companies have set up shops online. In fact, some companies like the popular Amazon don't have brick-and-mortar shops - the entire buying and selling takes place online. Online shops are not restricted to selling tangible products; they can also provide services and a good example of this would be travel and matrimony web sites.

If you are planning to sell your products (or services) online the tons of free and commercial ecommerce software, make will get you up and running in no time. Furthermore, you can integrate payment gateways, like Paypal.com and moneybookers.com, in your online shopping mall and process the orders and receive funds.

Web2.0 web sites
Web 2. is an amorphous concept and primarily encompasses web sites that offer a particular service. The purpose of these web sites can be varied - information storage, communication etc. Sites like Flickr.com, Google docs, del.icio.us fall into this category.

Social networking
The new mantra on the web is social networking. These web sites can be classified as Web 2.0 sites but their sheer number and popular demands we have a separate category. Facebook, Orkut, LinkedIn, Twitter have been the rage past couple of years. From helping you locate schoolmates and past colleagues to "microblogging" (whatever that means), these web sites have a whole array of utilities and features with more being "invented" and added each day.

Dating web sites have grown over the years and now offer services quite similar to those of social networking (the idea is basically the same) hence they are a good fit in this category.

File sharing type of web sites
As internet speeds have increased and more and more people are using broadband connections, the importance of file sharing types of web sites has grown. Megaupload,com and RapidShare.com are two prime examples of such kind of web sites. You can not only find images, but also music (sometimes even full albums) and video (entire movies). These web sites offer both free and paid memberships - the former is usually a cut down version of the latter.

However, because of the huge number of files stored on these sites, it is almost impossible to find the file you are looking for unless you know the direct link. Web sites like loadingvault.com provide a decent enough search engine that helps you locate files based on your query.

What are the limits on my Blogger account?

We try to give you a lot of room to play here on Blogger, so you'll see that a lot of the important "limits" here aren't really very limiting. But just in case you were wondering, here is some information about about what a single Blogger account will hold.

Number of Blogs: You can have as many blogs as you like on one account.

Number of Posts: There is no limit on the number of posts you can have on one blog. They will all be saved on your account (unless you manually delete them) regardless of whether you are publishing archives or not.

Size of Posts: Individual posts do not have a specific size limit, but very large posts may run you up against the page size limit. (See the next item.)

Size of Pages: Individual pages (the main page of your blog, or your archive pages) are limited to 1 MB in size. This will allow for a few hundred pages of text, but it may be a problem if you are listing hundreds of posts on the front page of your blog. If you hit this limit, you will see an error message saying "006 Please contact Blogger Support." You can get around this error by lowering the number of posts on your main page, which will have the added benefit of making your page load faster as well.

Number of Comments: A post can have any number of comments. As with archived posts, if you choose to hide comments on your blog, all pre-existing comments will remain saved on your account.

Number of Pictures: Up to 1 GB of total storage, shared with Picasa Web

Size of Pictures: If you are posting pictures through Blogger Mobile there is a limit of 250K per picture.

Team Members: There is a limit of 100 members per blog.

Number of Labels: Up to 2000 unique labels per blog and 20 per post.

Blog Description: Limited to 500 characters, with no HTML. Adding additional characters or HTML may cause it to revert to a previous setting.

"About Me" Profile Information: Maximum of 1,200 characters.

Profile Interests and Favorites: Maximum of 2,000 characters in each field.

Note: Users of the discontinued BlogSpot Plus service have a slightly different set up. Since these accounts included full FTP access, they were limited to either 25 MB or 100 MB, depending on which type of upgrade they had. In these cases, if you fill up your allotted space with images or other files, then you may not be able to upload new posts. To get around this, you will need to remove unused files from the account in order to free up more space.

Enjoy Blogging!

What is a Blog?

A blog also called a weblog is a type of web site that consists of a series of entries or blog posts categorized by date (typically months and years) and/or subject. You need little or no prior knowledge of web technologies such as HTML or web programming in order to create and main a blog. In fact, it's this very ease that has made blogs one of the most popular types of web sites. And I believe that if you can use an online email service such as Hotmail or Gmail, you can create a blog and it quite well.

How can you create a blog?
There are two ways to go about this. The first option is to use a free blog service through which you would be able to create your blog in a few minutes. The second option is to download and install blog software on your existing web site. In either case, you maintain and update your blog by adding new entries through the blog software.

Free blog services
There are tons of online services that allow you to make a free blog. All these require you to create an account, specify your login details (username and password), provide a name to your blog and select a design template. Once your blog is created you are ready to start posting entries. Depending on your blogging software, the entries will be categories by date and / or subject. Each blog entry becomes an individual "web page" of the blog web site.

Though there are several free blog services and here are some of the most popular ones:

              Blogger: owned by Google. If you have a Google account, you can use the same on Blogger.
              MSN Spaces or Windows Live Spaces: from IT giant Microsoft
              Yahoo! 360°: is Yahoo!'s foray into the free blog service space.
              BraveJournal: from Bravenet.com which is perhaps the easiest and most customizable blog service.

More Blog Site To Create Blog 31

As mentioned above, a blog is simply a type of web site and so it will have a unique address (a web site address, if you like). For instance, the address of your Blogger blog will be your-blog-name.blogspot.com and the one from Bravenet will be your-blog-name.braveblog.com. This is like getting a free domain name with your free blog web site!

Adding a blog to your web site
One can quickly add a blog to an existing web site by downloading and installing blog software on the web site server space. In fact, your web hosting company would have already provided you with such software that can be installed in less than a minute (no need of manually downloading and installation) - please contact your hosting provider for details. A blog can become a new section on an existing web site or you can convert a web site to a blog - the choice is yours.

The most popular blogging software is WordPress which is 100% free. You can find all the help you want in getting started and maintaining your WordPress blog in hundreds of online support groups and communities. There are also thousands of free design templates to choose from.

Why are blogs so popular?
The main reason for the popularity of blogs is the ease with which they can be created and maintained. A typical web site consists of individual web pages developed using HTML (HyperText Markup Language). FYI, web pages may also have code of other programming languages such as PHP, ASP or Perl embedded in the HTML. However, as far as blogs are concerned, you don't need to know HTML or any other web programming language. A good blogging software such as WordPress or Blogger will keep you far away from the underlying technology.

If you use an online email service such as Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo! Mail to compose and send email messages, you will find yourself pretty much at home with the online blogging tool. In order to create a blog on, say, Blogger you need to signup for an account just as you had done for your email service. And updating your blog by posting new entries is quite like composing emails in your email service.

Add blog to web site

You see blogs everywhere nowadays. Why have blogs become more popular than conventional web sites? Because they are is much easier to maintain and update. Blog software lets you add, edit and deleted web pages and content through a nice graphical user interface and you don't need to mess with any web programming (including the simple HTML). Now there are several ways to add a blog to a web site and the method you choose would depend on your technical expertise, available resources and the platform on which the web site is hosted. On this page, we shall look at the simplest way to get this done first and then move to more complex options.

Get a blog from a free service and link to it from your existing web site
The easiest and quickest way is to get a free blog and provide a link to it from your existing web site. There are tons of services that will let you make a blog for free - Google's Blogger is probably the most popular of them all. These free blogs can also be customized to reflect your actual web site's layout and colors. Remember the free blog will be hosted on another server though you may be able to get it on your too - this depends on the service you choose.

Add a professional blog to your web site
Obviously, free blogs have limited options. For a professional approach, shell out a few dollars each month and get a fully customized blog. Your blog can actually look exactly like your web site. You again provide a simple link from your existing site to the blog.

Install blog software on your web site through the control panel
Many web hosting companies let you install blog software such as the famous WordPress with a click of a mouse. This is typically done via the Fantastico script library - check with your hosting company. Such blogs can be made to install in a subdirectory on the web server space - don't put them in the document root else the blog will replace your main web site. You can then link to it from your web sites pages.
WordPress is very flexible blog software. You can use a premade design (there are available aplenty on the web), buy one that fits your requirements or even have a template made that looks exactly like your present site.

Install blog on your web site manually
This is a more complex approach and involves download, uploading and then installing blog software on your web server. The options depend on the choice of software and the configuration of the web server.
Which method do I advice?
For business and professional web sites, I suggest going in with the Fantastico option. The only requirement is having PHP and MySQL running on your web server. I recommend Hostgator and Lunarpages web hosting companies who provide excellent hosting plans with the Fantastico scripts library in the control panel.
If you were looking to create a blog web site from scratch, please refer that link for more information.

Adsense Tip

AdSense Tip 1: Find Best keywords for your content
Before serving ads on a web page, check its keyword density. You can find many free keyword analyzer tools in internet searching the word "free keyword analyzer".

AdSense Tip 2: Improve your keywords
Get keyword suggestions from Google AdWords Sandbox. Get new keywords that can help you improve your ad relevance.

AdSense Tip 3: Make content rich websites
This means that content-rich websites of a popular topic should attract a large amount of ads.

AdSense Tip 4: Write a new page/blog post every day
This is very important. The more content you have, the more visitors you will get. Put an Adsense unit on each and every content page of your site.

AdSense Tip 5: Choose the right AdSense format
The top three AdSense formats are for many webmasters:
336x280 large rectangle
300x250 medium rectangle
160x600 wide skyscraper
Another successful format is the 728x15 horizontal ad links, that can be placed under your navigation bar.
Use "Allowed site" feature of adsense to protect yourselves.If anyone put adsense codes in their websites you must not worried about it.

AdSense Tip 6: Adsense Color tips
When creating your Google AdSense ads it is recommended to use the color scheme and style of your website so that the ads blend in well.Google Ads with no background color and no borders will always perform better. Make the border color and background color same as your page background color.

AdSense Tip 7: Position tips
Place the AdSense ads in a prominent place around the top/left part of your page or under your headlines.
For short articles, CTR is best when ads are placed just above the content.
For long articles, CTR will improve if you place ads somewhere in middle of the content or just where the article ends.
Use Text Ads instead of Image Ads as users get more options and the payout is often higher.
Important:Don't places images next to Google ads as that will invite a permanent ban to your AdSense account.

AdSense Tip 8: Increase the number of ads, but not too much
If you have a lot of text on a page, use multiple AdSense units. You can use up to three AdSense units on a page, two AdSense search boxes and one unit of ad links.

AdSense Tip 9: Preview Google ads
You can find out what ads will be served by Google AdSense if you install Google AdSense Preview Tool, a very simple tool available only for Internet Explorer 6.0. Click to advertiser sites without generating invalid clicks, and easily add their URLs to your URL filter list. Because AdSense uses geo-targeting, Google serves different ads for other countries.

AdSense Tip 10: What not to do with adsense
Don't click on your own ads
Don't ask others to click on your Google ads
Don't manually change AdSense code
Don't place Google ads on sites that include prohibited content (e.g.: adult sites)
Don't employ cloaking, hidden text or farm links
Don't use AdSense ads on the same page with similar ads (e.g.: Yahoo Publisher Network)
And also don't refresh your site excessively.

AdSense Tip 11: Use section targeting
Use section targeting to emphasize some content in your page.To know more about section targeting read this article.

AdSense Tip 12: Your Google ads should be visible
Make sure your text ads are visible well to the surfers in all screen formats.

AdSense Tip 13: Use AdSense channels
You can categorize the content of your website into channels and then track your performance. This way you can experiment with different types of ads and see which is performing the best.

AdSense Tip 14: Follow Adsense Programme Polices
Strictly follow the rules mentioned in Adsense policies. You will always earn more monet from Adsense if you do it.

AdSense Tip 15:Never modify the Google Adsense HTML code
If have trouble embedding AdSense code in your Blogger template, read these articles.

AdSense Tip 16: Don't place ads in pop-up windows,error pages,empty pages
You must always remember to not to do it.

AdSense Tip 17: Don't start a "MFA"(made for adsense) web site
You will never make money out these Made for Adsense websites. Instead, write on topics what you are passionate about. Don't waste your money and time searching on high-paying adsense keywords lists.

AdSense Tip 18: Block Low Paying Adsense Ads
Block low paying advertisers with Filters.For more info read this article.

AdSense Tip 19: Adsense For Search
Always select the setting to open Google Adsense search box results in a new browser window, so you won't lose your visitors.

10 Best Free Online SEO Tools By Google

If SEO professionals around the world are scrambling to appear at the top of Google to search for particular words, then there’s nothing like using the tools that Google itself provides.
Tip : Optimizing WordPress Blog Structure for SEO
Online SEO Tools Provided Free by Google

Google Webmaster Tools: It is essential to know the condition of our websites in Google. Here we can see errors Google found, as well as tips to improve the website.
Google Analytics: The main tool to control access statistics. With your data we can make decisions about what is the best strategy for publishing content.
Google Website Optimizer: You can try different versions of your site that will be randomly displayed to visitors, allowing to obtain sufficient data for us to make decisions about design changes.
Google Zeitgeist: To view the most wanted in a given year. It helps to know the trends before starting a new project.
Google Trends: Allows you know how much or little that is sought a sentence or word in Google, allowing to compare curves between them. There are only the most popular.
Google Insights for Search: Allows you wanted to see what is a phrase or word, regardless of popularity.
Google Traffic Estimator: Made for Adwords, allows us to draw conclusions about the views that a particular word generates.
Google Keyword Tool: Also made for Adwords, we can help you choose the best words in our texts to attract more visitors.
GGoogle Search Tool Based Keyword: Another option that allows us to find keywords on specific websites.
Google Ad Planner: For statistical profile of visitors to any website.

Before trying with so many options, remember rule number one: write good quality content, original and useful. The rest comes with time.

Enjoy Bloging

By Biradat Mahesh

Basics of SEO and Tips to Increase Traffic

Basics of SEO and Tips to Increase Traffic
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a type of technical marketing. but for doing SEO you need to have some amount of technical knowledge.SEO can make or break your business. Today there is too much competition. Marketing on the Internet is tough but its achievable with hard work.But if you are the rich guy then it will make you work less by handing over your blog/website to SEO companies. but it’s always advisable to double check on what methods they use to get on top of the ranking. if any illegal or blackhat method is adopted by the company then in due course of time your blog will surely be banned by the search engines.
In Short SEO can be defined as a way to make your blog Search engine friendly and also to get on top of the rankings. Always remember that you won’t get to the top of the ranking instantly it takes time. and you must try to get ranked for some specific keywords. Many people opt for using other marketing techniques even before doing SEO.As someone said
How do Search Engines Work?
Remember search engines are not humans. they use crawlers. For ex: Google bot.These bots first crawl your page.and follow one link to the other and then index them.some times you might find that search engine has not indexed your blog for a long time this can actually happen as there are millions of website/blogs in the Internet. during this time its better to concentrate more on the content and improve the amount of incoming links. When search engines get a request from a user, what the search engine does is that it compares each string with the pages present in the database and finally checks the relevancy to the search string and then renders the result.

Basic tips of SEO for your blog
Content is the king, so supply your blog with fresh and unique content.
Be careful while choosing the url of your blog, make sure your url contains the main keyword or the related one in it and its better to get a .com domain.
Submit your site to Google. And other major search engines manually, although there are software’s for it. But it’s better if you do it manually
The text to html ratio must be greater than 15%
Add Meta tags properly
Title tag must not contain more than 60-70 characters. and description tag should not contain more than 200 characters. A robot friendly description is a maximum 200 characters. Recommended characters in keywords are 20.
The blog should be user-friendly . Remove unwanted widgets that increases your page load time. Slower sites are penalized by GOOGLE
Free ways to generate traffic
There are n numbers of ways to generate traffic. People go for paid ways if they are ready to spend but getting traffic via freeways are useful for bloggers like me and below are some freeways to get traffic

Update your blog with fresh content everyday or at least 4+ times a week
Add an email subscription box in your blog. It helps you gain readers.
Add social networking and bookmarking buttons on your blog as it will help readers to share or bookmark the content. Floating share buttons really gets the attention of the visitors.
Participate in forums and use the signature link effectively
Add your blogs url in the email signatures and make the email signature attractive by adding social networking icons instead of plain links
Comment on high PR blogs especially that use “comment luv” commenting system
Try to get one-way links from high PR blogs.
Links from Wikipedia is great but hard to get.
Create a Facebook fan page. Actively use Twitter
Submit to major blog directories, RSS directories.

Feel free to comment. Your comments and suggestions are welcomed.

by Anish

Blogging Top 31

For anyone interested in blogging, it can be hard to find the one that works for you. You want to go where people can read your blog or maybe you want it where only your family or friends can read it. It took me some time, but I complied what I believe to be the list of the best. If anyone sees one I missed, please feel free to add the blog in your comment, that way you can help me make this the ultimate list of the best blogs.

WordPress this one is number one for one main reason, it does not have ads on your blog. You can set up your layout, color scheme, theme and everything just the way you want it. Not only can you install WordPress on your own sites, you can use the same software on their site and save yourself all of the technical work. You do not have to install anything, but you can if you choose to.
Blogger/BlogSpot This one is one of most commonly used blogs, linking to others is quite easy and updating it is very user-friendly. You also have the option of deleting comments, which is nice for those who don’t want people advertising on their blogs.
LiveJournal Not only is this a great blog, but it a great tool for writers. There are hundreds of groups set up designed to let you join a writing challenge. For anyone who is looking to have their skills as a writer tested, this is the place for you. Customizable theme, avatars, layouts and a few more things you can get if you want to pay for them, but I did that a few years back, not really worth the money.
Vox A personal blogging service where people share thoughts, photos, videos with friends and family
BlogSome (blogsome.com) BlogSome is the fastest growing blog host in the world (in percentage terms) Was voted Forbes Best of The Web pick. Based out of Ireland, this site uses the WordPress MU platform, large choice of themes.
Xanga This is more community-centric blogging, including Friends lists.
MySpace this is more community-centric blogging, but you get all sorts of layout and backgrounds to play with. There are so many websites dedicated to making backgrounds and goodies for MySpace it is not funny.
Facebook: On Facebook, you can have “Notes” which are viewed by your friends. If you want only friends and family to see this, you have the option on Facebook.
Insane Journal – Another site based on the same software that runs LiveJournal, offers free and paid accounts, paid benefits are only enhancements.
Journal Fen – Runs on the same platform as LiveJournal platform, very much directed towards various topics and is meant for users 18 and older.
BlogABond – A site dedicated to travel blogs with map integration and more.
Blog Cheese – A video blogging website. Nothing to do with cheese.
Busy Thumbs - A blog site specifically for your text messages and camera phone images.
FreeVlog – Designed for video blogging and completely free.
Trippert – Create and share blogs of your travels.
Word Count Journal – A new blogging format that is also part challenge. Write one word on the first day, two words on the second day and so on, at the end of the year you’ll have written 66,795 words. I have five novels going on here and one more book on religion. This makes writing fun, it also counts your words for you so you don’t write too many.
Blogetery – Offers multiple templates, anti-spam, free sub-domain and more. You can also get paid to write there, your profit there is 90%, which is higher than most paid to write blogs. I am a member here and highly recommend it.
EduBlogs – WordPress powered blogging for educators and students alike.
Blog – Offers free blog hosting with unlimited bandwidth for their free package, more benefits for paid members.
Blogr – Allows you to blog, host photos & videos, and podcasts.
Blogster – Offers free image hosting in addition to free blogs.
Bravenet – Free blog hosting with RSS feeds and more.
ClearBlogs – Free blog hosting and offers templates, friends only posts, IP-Banning and more.
Multiply – Mixes blogging and social networking, with photo galleries and more. There are rumors that this one is about to close, but I have no way of knowing if it is true or not. There is nothing on the website about it closing though.
Netcipia – Free blog and wiki for private or public display with 2GB of storage. This one offers revenue as well, check it out for more information.
Open Diary – Offers unlimited storage and posts, low cost subscription rates for advanced features.
ShoutPost – A platform for creating blogs with a focus on generating traffic. Ad-free!
Soul Cast – Have something you want to talk about, but want to say it anonymously? This may be the blogging site for you. You can also get paid to right here and there are no restrictions on what you say and how you say it.
Tumblr – A blog platform with a focus on allowing media-rich posts.
Weebly – Allows you to create a site and blog, free hosting and change designs on the fly.
ZoomShare – Free blog hosting with 250MB of free storage.

By Biradar Mahesh

Bring more traffic using keyword rich Article

Bring more traffic using keyword rich Article
"Keyword Rich Article" is one of the most important thing for the bloggers to write a high quality article which is rich by a specific keyword. If you write an article on your blog which is based on a certain keyword, you'll get a high chance from google/yahoo/msn or other search engine to keep your article at the top position against that particular keyword. That means your article will bring lots of traffic towards your blog. The reason is only the density of your particular keyword at your article is really remarkable.

Have an “Advertise with Us” page

This is the most basic and important way to get noticed by the advertisers. It should click to an advertisinginformation page, and provide easy details on the issue and have an easy way to contact you for further information. Have a graphical image to attract advertisers.

Be specific

Know your niche and let it be very specific, so that visitors are interested in clicking the ads about the same niche your are writing about. There by both advertiser and publisher makes money. For example if you have an ad of “food” on a blogging tips site then visitors won’t click that ad, or rather if you had a ad of “web designing”, then probability of click through rate is more.

Show them banners and ad space

Provide every other detail to your blog, the specification of ad space and the cost of it. Also allowable formats and links. This is good way to strategise, because depending on the ad space available you provide the chance to the advertiser so as what is to be chosen?

Boast about your site

Tell the advertisers why should they advertise on your blog. Provide them at least two solid reasons and proof. Show them your blog stats and traffic.

Have “About Us” page

The advertiser should be able to know more about the site and the site owner, so make it simple to have a contact for more information about your blog.

Throw a “Free Bonus”

This is a marketing strategy, if you are advertising then this is important. For example, say you have a 125×125 ad space which costs $10 per month, that makes a $30 for 3months. Other wise – Ask you advertisers to book for 3months and get a 15days extra advertising.
So be creative in your thinking, marketing and promoting is a important part of advertising.

Facebook Strategy

When facebook started, initially it did not have any advertising on its page until it hit a 150million users. People stay on facebook – because its “Cool!”, and ads are uncool. Anyways, Facebook advertising started when they decided to monetize their site. So, advertising is the way to make money but think on “How to advertise?” Many a times the better the quality of the offer, people will definitely buy it.

Know your niche and let it be professional

Keep you advertising space to limit, and focus more on your niche and content. And always remember let it be professional. Visitors like professional, and every now and then if they receive pop-ups they would hate your site, and remember “love is better than hate!”.
This article is part of the Traffic Generation Blogging Contest, please add a comment and share it to support the author.

BY BIRADAR MAHESH

NeT│Info│BooK