10 Smart Reasons To Choose Blogger

Blogger is a blogging platform owned by Google. Blogger makes it easy for you to create a blog and add content to it without having to do deal with so much technicality.

Wordpress is a blogging platform similar to blogger and there has always been a lot of argument between which is better of the two. In this short post, I will show some useful reasons why blogger rocks

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How to Be A good Blogger

Being a good blogger is not something so difficult to achieve, there may be a thousand and one rules to follow to be a good blogger, but I have narrowed down the million points to the best of my knowledge. I hope you do gain something by reading this.
    Below is my list of complied points for being a good blogger:
1) Be yourself :
     My number one rule to being a good blogger is to be yourself. Write in your own style and in your own voice, and you will be surprised at how well you will do as a blogger.
2) Choose a Niche for your blog:
    A niche (in its simplest of definition is the people to which you are directing your blog content to). Choose a niche which you know about well so you never go out of content.
3) Know your readers well:
   Even before you write your first blog post, it is worth the effort to take the time to study the kind of audience you are marketing or directing your blog contents to.  Some criteria to watch out for are: their marital status, their age, education level, location and so on. These might not be the only things to look out for, but they are worth studying.
4) Relate with other bloggers:
    Seriously, to get your blog going, it is an inevitable activity that you must carry out for the good of your blog. This has so many advantages of which i can manage to mention a few here, because, it really is a topic on its own. Relating with other bloggers especially those in the same niche with you will not give your blog exposure to a larger audience but help you build back links which in turn increases your pagerank and the perceived value of your blog in the eye of our dearly friends (search engines).
   Really, the importance of relating with other bloggers can not be over emphasized, engage in it, and you will have me to thank for it.
5) Be ready to improve:
   Yes, you will have a lot of areas to improve at as a blogger. Your writing skill, you communication skill, your thinking skill are just some of the major areas you will need to really improve at if you really are going to be  good blogger.
6) How consistent can you be?
   You can never be a good a good blogger if you lack consistency. Go ask the big bloggers.  As a blogger, you need to set a particular time range which you will update your blog. Are you convenient with  putting up a blog post once a day, twice a day, once in two days or probably even once a week.
   Just set an achievable time frame, and let your readers know you for it. You will be surprised at how loyal some of your readers can get due to your consistency.
     What happens if you have three or four posts at hand, and you only post once in three days, it will just be nice if you can hold it off and release them as scheduled. Read: How to schedule blog posts in blogger.
7) Write good content:
     Well, like the saying goes: "content is king". There is no substitute good content. Work well and spend time to create quality, unique and original content, and you will have both search engine and humans addicted to your blog.
  Your turn: Now it's time to hear from you. Is there anything you would like to add or subtract from my list? Let's talk.

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How to set a Favicon For your Blog

Favicons are very useful items for bloggers and web designers alike. It helps increase the perceived value of your blog, even if just a little. A quick dash into what a favicon is: A favicon is a small image (more like an icon) that is displayed next to the address of a blog or website in the address bar of a browser. A good example is the "small image with a blue background and an F text" you will see displayed next to Facebook's URL address. I hope you get that now?
Now, I will explain to you how you can create one.
First, grab an image editor (like irfanview or photoshop) [if you are not a graphic artist or good at dealing with graphical contents, I recommend you go for irfanview. It's simple to use and can be used by almost a total novice.]. Download and install this photo editing software and install it on your computer.
After installing, launch the software, you will get a blank screen with black background, press shift+N on your keyboard to create a new image.
You will see another window pop up, then select your desired height and width for the favicon image (50 x 50) should be okay. On the same window, choose the desired background color you want for the favicon image, then click ok or press enter.
You should see your newly created image on the background now. The next step is to add text to the image.
Click and hold your mouse down on the image (start from one corner at the top) and move your your mouse(without releasing the click) across the image to make selection.
Next, go to the options bar at the top, click on "edit" and select "cut area outside of selection", after you have done that, press "ctrl+T"  to inset text.
Another window will pop up for you to enter your text and style it. Choose the position you want the text to appear on (left, right or center), choose the font type and font size and color, then click okay. You should see your text appear on the image now. Voila! you are done.
Restyle the image until it fits your taste.
Now back to our main tutorial (i.e setting the favicon on your blogger blog).
Step 1: Log in to your blogger dashboard.
Step 2: Click on layout,

then click on the "edit" in the favicon gadget bar as shown in the image above.

Step 3: Click on the "choose file" button in the window that pops up. Now, navigate to the location where you saved the little image we created earlier. Double-click on the image to select and wait for it to load..

After loading successfully, click on the "add selected files" and that's it.

Step 4: Click on the "Save arrangement"  bar at the top of your blogger dashboard.

Now, go to your blog address, you should see the favicon appear now.

I hope this tutorial has helped you. I want to hear from you. Cheers!

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Day 3 - How to write a great blog post

Welcome back guys, I started a post some days ago on how to write a great

blog post. I already published two parts of the whole article and this is

the third and final post on the topic.
If you haven't read the first two parts, do so now.
How to write a great blog post
Day 2 How to write a great blog post

So, let's continue, I stopped at number 12 or so I think:
13) Make your blog posts informative:
Make research on your topic before setting out to write your posts

so you have enough useful information to give out to your readers.
14) Capture your ideas as they come:
Inspiration come at times when it is least expected. So remember

to always trap your post ideas as they come to your mind. Read my post on

tools to help you trap your ideas.
15) How prepared are you?
You need to keep generating ideas regularly so you have something

for the future. How cute is it to have topics to write on for like say 10

posts to come? Sounds awesome, isn't it?
16) Solve problems:
Most times, people read blogs because they need to find solution

to a particular problem. Why not take the time to find out what the

problem is and solve it for your readers?
17) How well are your readers connected to you?
Sharing your personal experiences once a while can create some kind

of emotional bond between your and your readers. Just try it and see.
18) Relax:
Don't make things too hard for yourself by trying too hard to

impress everyone. Feel relaxed whenever you are writing your posts and let

it flow naturally. Going hard on yourself can make you commit lot of

errors, which your readers won't like.
19) Vary length:
When you need to keep things simple, write short posts but make it

 as informative as possible and when the need arises, write posts that are

as long as you feel. Just remember, the catch here is to make your blog

posts as informative as possible.
Read: Things to do before publishing your blog posts
20) How much time do you have for your blog?
You need to set aside a particular portion of your day to attend

to your blog. Take the time to source for ideas for your posts, write the

posts, review and edit as fit.
21)Write often:
Truly, you can only get better. As they say, "practice makes

perfect". Remember, to be a good writer, you need to write very often,

there is always room for improvement, you know.

Bonus 1: Don't stop practicing, Practice makes perfect. Always remember,

It's in you.
Bonus 2: Don't forget to tell your readers to subscribe
Bonus 3: You can't please everyone. Just do the best you can do and

continue to hone your skills.
Your turn: I want to hear from you.

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Four Tips That Will Help Your Blog Grow

You need to succeed as a blogger. yes, it is very important, but success for bloggers -like for everything else- is not something that just comes on its own, You need to work for it.
So, in this article, i will highlight and brief on some points that are necessary you consider.
Read:
How to schedule posts in blogger
25 things to blog about

• Write Well and write Often:

You must have heard it times without number that "content is king" and if you've never, there you know it now. Well, it still applies and you should know this that 'there is no substitute for good content'. you need to provide quality write ups for your readers. Yes, your readers expect a valuable information from you and you must give it to them. It is also important that you write frequently; no matter how quality your content is, if you don't update your blog for a space of a month, you might never get your lost readers back.
 Summary:Always remember " content is king".

• Be Consistent:

No matter what you do, you need to be consistent to achieve success. The only thing inconsistency can bring is failure. As a blogger, you need to set a timeframe considering the intervals you will update your blog.
How Frequent will I update my blog? is a question you need to ask yourself and find answer to. Daily, weekly, bi-weekly? Just setan achievable standard you can keep up with and stick to it.
 Summary: Consistency is key.

• Reply to comments:

As basic as it may sound, replying to your visitors' comment can play a major role during your course as a blogger. Replying to comments not only show show your readers you care, but it will also help keep your blog alive which is an important tool in making your site search-engine-friendly.
 Summary:Harness the power of commenting to making your blog friendly for both human and bots.

• Use Social Media:

Social networking sites have proven to be a very useful tool to bloggers over the years. In fact, if properly used, most of your traffic will come from social networks. Share your blog posts to Facbook, tweet your blog posts, share them to Google +, Digg and so many other social networking sites out ther and you will be surprised at how much traffic influx you will experience.
 Summary: MOst of your traffic will come for social media, so use it well.
More tutorials coming on:
   How to use social media.
  What is guestblogging?
  How to write great content.
  Important skills bloggers need to have.
Stay Tuned and we will keep serving you will the quality information you deserve.
     I hope you found this short article useful, add more if you 've got more ideas.

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25 things to Blog About

   As a blogger or content writer, there are times when you run out of ideas and you have no ideas about what to post. With the following list of points, you can keep your blog alive even if you ever run out of ideas.

1)      How to’s.

2)      Video tutorials of some of your older posts.

3)      Reply to a question you were asked.

4)      Ask a question from your readers.

5)      A book review.

6)      Seminar review.

7)      Upcoming events.

8)      Links to useful resources.

9)      What you do when you run out of ideas.

10)   Your experience as a blogger.

11)   What inspired you into blogging?

12)   Your favorite writer.

13)   Did you find an interesting topic on another blog? 

14)   An interview you had.

15)   A seminar you attended.

16)   An interesting and meaningful joke.

17)   What are your plans for the weekend?

18)   Look through your older posts.

19)   A controversial topic in the news.

20)   How you manage your time.

21)   Things you wish you knew before starting to blog.

22)   Tools bloggers should watch out for.

23)   A problem you had and how you solved it.

24)   If you were to start all over.

25)   Things you want to do but never had the chance.

With the above suggestions, I believe you should never run short of ideas of topics you can post on your blog.

What do you think of this list? Let’s hear from you.

Incoming search terms:

·         25 things to post about.

·         Things you can blog about.

·         What to do when you run out of ideas.

·         What to do when you hit the writers’ block.

Your comments are really appreciated.

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Eight things to consider before starting a blog- Part 2

I started a post last time on 8 things you should consider before starting a blog. This is the concluding part of the series.

Read the first part here. I stopped at point four; how often will you post?

•   WHAT WILL BE BECOME OF YOUR BLOG IN THE NEAREST FUTURE?

You need to set an achievable goal for your blog. Ask yourself questions like :

·         Will I get a custom domain name for my blog?

·         Will I use a paid host or host with a free host?

·         Will I monetize this blog?

·         How will this blog make me money?

·         Will I sell this blog in the future?

Whatever the plans you have for your blog are, make them realistic and achievable and work towards achieving them.

•   HOW MUCH TIME WILL YOU SPARE FOR YOUR BLOG?

Your blog needs your attention. I think at this point, its best you come up with a time table to help you squeeze out time for your blog out of busy daily schedule.

Well, since you will need to update your blog on a regular basis, you need to create time for thinking, writing and posting. If you cannot find time for your blogging, then blogging is really not meant for you.

•   HOW ARE YOU GOING TO MARKET YOUR BLOG?

A good blog with quality content that is read by no one is as good as nothing. Writing quality content (although paramount) is not enough for your bring in traffic for your blog. The ‘Create it and they will come’ saying does not apply to blogs. You need to put effort into getting visitors for your site.

•   THE DESIGN OF YOUR BLOG.

The design of your blog is something you really need to consider. Will you be the one to create the design or will you hire a professional is a question you need to consider. Remember that your design is part of the impression your visitors will perceive of you and your blog. But always know this that “a good design is not a supplement for a good content” .

                Design is not just about the color combination, a well organized blog arrangement with easy navigation will generally improve your blog’s design.

Final words!

Having considered the points we talked about, I believe you shouldn’t find it hard creating and managing your blog successfully.

If you have more ideas or have any questions concerning this, let’s hear from you by simply dropping your comment in the comment section.

 

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Eight Things To Consider Before Starting A Blog

                                          EIGHT THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE STARTING A BLOG

Oh! So you want to start a blog? Your decision to start a blog will be one of the most important you will ever make. I know you must be wondering why I said that. Well, here are my reasons:

1) Blogging increases your level of exposure;

2) By blogging, you learn new things in the process of sharing your knowledge;

3) Blogging will help you promote your offline business online;

4) Blogging gives you the opportunity to meet with great and intellectual people;

5) A blog can turn your bank account around for the better.

Blogging will benefit you a lot more than these; these are just to name a few.

   But before starting a blog, there are some important things you need to consider which will determine how successful your blog will be. Below are some points I think you should consider before starting a blog:

Before we proceed: read what is blogging?

•  THE PURPOSE OF YOUR BLOG the question “why did I or why am I creating this blog“is the number one thing you should think of. That’s because every other thing about your blog centers on the purpose on which your blog is created.

For example, if the purpose of your blog is to tell the story about how you made A‘s when you were in school. Your blog title should look something like ‘how I made good grades back in school and how you can‘.

Your target audience will most probably be school students and parents who have kids in school.

For your posting frequency; once a week is ideal.

Your domain name will be something like ‘www.gettinggoodgrades.com‘. And it all goes like that.

I find writing down the purpose of your blog very helpful. It will help you keep focus and not deviate from what your blog is about.

• WHAT ARE YOU GOOD AT?.

Look through you, what is that thing you are you are very good at? Why not blog it?

So, you are a very good writer?  Then why don't you blog about:

How you developed passion for writing?

What you like about writing?

How you squeeze out time out of your daily schedule to write?

Who is your role model or mentor as a writer?

Have you written any article?

What is your advice for fellow writers? etc etc.

•  WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE?

Another important point to consider that will determine to an extent the success of your blog is your ‘AUDIENCE‘.

 Creating a blog about cooking and directing it towards a community of lecturers or professors is spelling a doom for your blog.

 You need to research who your audience is, what they need, what they want, how your blog will benefit them, how urgent they need what you have to offer, and things related.

It is important you know your audience before starting to blog; else, you will be the only one reading your posts (and probably your family members, lol!)

•   HOW OFTEN WILL YOU POST?

This point is a very important one, because it shows your reader how serious you are. You need to set a time interval on how frequent you will post on your blog. Is it, daily, weekly, bi-weekly, once in two or three days? Just set a standard you know you can meet up with and adhere to it strictly.

 The key point here is to be consistent. Having a lot of topics at hand does not mean you should make three blog posts a day. Select a time frame and set deadline which you must meet.

   If in the process, you run out of there, a post will be coming later of blog post ideas.

   Oh! I think we should take a break here so you can digest what we have talked about so far. The concluding part of this post will be coming up in my next post; YOU don't want to miss it.

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WHAT IS BLOGGING?

       “A Blog” you must have come across or heard this word a number of times. Have you been wondering 
what it really means or you even know what it means but just want to add to knowledge about it? Then
you are at the right place. In this post, I will give you an insight as to what blogging really entails. I
hope you find it educating and interesting.
          Blogging is simply the act of writing blogs.  
WHAT IS A BLOG?
       As you cannot out rightly define what a book is, so also is a blog. Blog is a shortened form
of weblog (web & log). You can think of a blog as an online journal that is updated on a regular
basis. Updates or entries in a blog are called posts.
         These. posts are arranged in a reversed chronological order i.e. the most recent posts
appearing first over the older posts.
           Bloggers are people who write blogs. They are the ones responsible for and in charge of
everything in and about blog.
          Everything related to a blog is termed blogosphere.
        Blogging expertise level range from novice bloggers to expert bloggers. Blogs could also
be seen as mini websites.
WHY SHOULD YOU BLOG?
       Blogging is fun. Apart from the fun aspect of blogging, blogging can be used as an avenue
of making passive income, although, not every blogger monetize their blogs, but I know of many
bloggers who are making reasonable income from their blogs.  Bloggers who aren't making money
from their blog is either because they don't want to or they don't know how to.
         Blogging is for you if you have passion for writing. 
REASONS WHY PEOPLE BLOG.
       People blog for a thousand and one reasons, but I will just name a few here that I can
think of right now.
       1) Writing for fun, out of passion
       2) Keeping oneself busy.
       3) As a way of keeping personal or family record.
       4) As a news platform
       5) As a platform to protest.
       6) As a way of getting your business online.
       7) As a profession, and just about anything you can think of. It will be difficult to pin point
a particular reason why people blog.  
WHY I THINK YOU SHOULD NOT BLOG
       Like I said earlier, blogging is fun but it might also be time consuming or too tiresome to
manage and run a blog.
       1) Blogging is not for you if your ultimate reason for blogging is to just to make money
(either quick or slow). You might have seen so many people who make a living out of blogging,
but ask them what their ultimate reason was when they started to blog.
  Although in the long run,
your blog might start to generate income for you, but you shouldn't be thinking about that now.
And I think it is wrong to make it your some aim.
       2) also, blogging  is not for you if you aren't ready to devote 15 hours out of your 24 to
thinking and writing “what to post next“.  Starting a blog is nothing compared to keep it alive.
Your blog should be updated regularly to not make it look like another static web page on the net.
You want your audience to keep coming.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU UPDATE YOUR BLOG?
          There is no set standard as to this, it all depends on you. The ideal thing is that you'd it;
daily, once is 3 or four days, weekly or even biweekly. Just set a standard you know you can keep
to. This will help your readers know when to expect something from you, and that will keep them
coming to your blog.
             I think I need to stop here for now so you can digest what we have talked about so far.
       My next post will about things to know before starting a blog.
       So till we meet, have a nice time.
       If you find this article informative and educative, drop your comments and don’t forget to
share with your friends.

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