Wednesday, 17 June 2015
How to create a Blogger Blog | Course 3 | Basic Settings
We had covered two courses on "How to create a Blogger Blog" in the previous posts and this course is a sequel of the two.The two course being :
Course 1 | Create a first blog
Course 2 | Blog terms explained
Now, in this session we will learn to incorporate some basic settings that is required as a preliminary step to start a blog.
As usual we will see the proceedings in step-by-step process.
Step 1 :
Log into your blogger account and go to your blogger dashboard.By default you will see the page containing as list of your blogs as shown below in the picture.Click your blog name.
Step 2 :
Clicking this,you will navigate to the overview page as shown below in the picture.While we will not be dealing with the first nine functions at this time.We will now go through the tenth function,settings.So,click the 'Settings' link.Then click the sub category 'Basic' as shown in the below picture.
Step 3 :
Now under the basic settings,you will see firstly 'Title'.'Title' here in the sense the name of your blog.The name by which people recognize your blog in the search results.This is the title that you gave in the beginning (As we saw in course - 1).If you want to change it or add,you can do so (anytime) by clicking 'Edit' button next to the title and then typing your desired title.
This differ from post titles in that blog title holds wholly the blog while post titles (also referred as headings) are meant for that particular post,in other words,each post will have its unique title.For now, just work on blog title and later we will learn how to select individual post title's.
Step 4 :
Secondly,click on the 'Edit' link next to the description.Clicking this will display a space for entering something about your blog's description as shown in the above picture.The description you will write here will display under your blog's title as shown in the picture below.So,do enter a short and brief (in 500 characters) description detailing completely about your blog.Include some major keywords in that like for my sample blog case I could include something like
"A blog about blogging,SEO,SMM and other techniques with tips to help you drive traffic as well as monetize your blog".
Something like this should work.So,decide some major functional areas of your blog and include them in a very good sentence form in the description space.
Step 5 :
Once you make your description,click 'Save Changes'.Thereafter,scroll a little down to see 'Blog Address' that you gave in the beginning like the one shown below.
If you wish to change this,you can do so by clicking on the link 'Edit' and making the necessary changes or if you are satisfied from the existing address,leave it as it is.
Step 6 :
Now navigate to the left menu and click 'Posts and Comments' as shown in the below picture.Once you click this,you will see 'Show at most' option under posts,right ? by default blogger will show 7 posts on the main page.Now,you need to change this figure to 1 (one).By changing this to one will enable the blogspot to show only the most recent post of your blog,else you will be seeing seven recent posts in the same page,that looks awkward.
Step 7 :
Now,scroll down a little and look at the section 'Comments Location'.Make sure it is set to 'Embedded'.''Embedded" comments gives aesthetic look to your blog and it is maximum preferred by bloggers,be it be word press blogs.
Now see the next function 'Who can comment ?' and click any of the desired option.Clicking 'Anyone' will enable comments from Google registered users as well as anonymous.
'Registered User' is an external commenting platform from 'Open ID' which requires all users to sign up for their account and comment.Clicking 'User with Google account' allows only Google account holders to comment.This needs a log in when a users tries to comment on your blog.'Only Members of this blog' are users who registered and followed your blog through their Google Account.
My analysis goes like this : when you are new,prefer "Anyone" and once you start gaining huge audience the jump to 'User with Google Account' or even 'Registered user'.I don't ever prefer 'Members of this blog'.
Step 8 :
OK,then come to the next option 'Comment Moderation'.It's always preferable to moderate your comments from your end and so click/check 'Always'.This will protect you from spamming comments.You will have the total control.Then enter your email address in the space 'Email moderation requests to',doing this let all the comments to flow into your inbox for moderation before it gets published.Also set 'Show word verification' to yes and 'Show Backlinks' to hide for more security.
After you are done with comment settings,click 'Save settings' provided at the top right corner of the page as shown in the picture below.
The remaining two options 'Mobile and Email' and as well as 'Language and Formatting' are all set to default and there is no necessity to make any changes to it.
Step 9 :
Now comes the next option 'Search Preferences'.As soon as you click this,you will see a page just like shown below in the picture.Under 'Meta Tags',click 'Edit' next to Description which will ask you whether to 'Enable search description' or not.By default it was set to No.But you must set that to 'Yes' without which your customized description won't appear in the search results.
So,check/click the 'Yes' button and enter a detailed description about your blog.For the sample blog,I gave the following description :
"This blog is all about educating the newbies on how to do blogging with some tricks and tips as well as something about SEO,SMM and more".
This is what visitor's read about your blog in brief and this will help them to reach your blog.The description here is wholly for the blog,just like the description of your homepage.Now,I hope you understood the importance of giving good search description.
So,check/click the 'Yes' button and enter a detailed description about your blog.For the sample blog,I gave the following description :
"This blog is all about educating the newbies on how to do blogging with some tricks and tips as well as something about SEO,SMM and more".
This is what visitor's read about your blog in brief and this will help them to reach your blog.The description here is wholly for the blog,just like the description of your homepage.Now,I hope you understood the importance of giving good search description.
Step 10 :
Click 'Save Changes' after entering the description.The remaining options are like errors and redirection,crawlers etc have nothing to do for now.Leave that as it is.Same goes with 'Other' option.They are by default set as per your requirement and so no need to make any changes for now.
Course 4 is coming soon.
Hope you like this post.Please stay tuned with us and share this post on your social media networks to help others.Also drop a line of your experience in the comments below.
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Author: Mohammad Maaz Khan
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