How to add drop down menu to blogger

 In this post you will learn how to add simple drop down menu widget to your side bar. This will reduce cluttering of too many links and helps in displaying your most favorite labels in space saving way.



    Log in to Blogger

    Navigate from the Dashboard to Layout > Page Elements.

    Click on Add a Gadget in the sidebar or other location if you wish

    Select a HTML/JavaScript gadget from the list of gadgets

    Paste the following code into the content box of the widget:

        <form><select name="menu" onchange="window.open(this.options[this.selectedIndex].value,'_blank')"
        size=1 name=menu>
        <option>- Your Menu Title -</option>

        <!-- Change the following links to your own -->

        <option value="http://URL of link1">Link 1</option>
        <option value="http://URL of link2">Link 2</option>
        <option value="http://URL of link3">Link 3</option>
        <option value="http://URL of link4">Link 4</option>
        <option value="http://URL of link5">Link 5</option>

        <option value="http://blogknowhow.blogspot.com">Blog Know How</option>
        </select></form>


    Replace _blank as follows:

        To have a new window open leave the same

        To have the new page appear in the same window replace _self


    Replace - Your Menu Title - with a title of your own

    For each instance of the option values highlighted in red substitute your own links and link names. For example:

    <option value="http://bloggermason.blogspot.com">blogger mason</option>

    Click Save

    Use drag and drop to position the drop down menu widget in the location you want it within your sidebar and save any changes

    Click View Blog to admire the new drop down menu in the sidebar of your blog

Creating grid view with thumbnail images in blog

A grid view of thumbnails  give pleasant browsing experience. We find them pretty comfortable on our smart phones to select required apps and pictures on galleries. Bloggers can have that experience on their blogs too. Here we shall learn how to create  awesome grid of thumbnails which can be linked to favorite posts, youtube videos or any thing else. You can see 3 X 3 thumb nail grid below. These thumbnails can used as buttons to web sites or affiliate sites too. I have linked these thumbnails to some of my blogs and affiliate sites. You can test these your selves now.

How do you feel? Are they awesome? You can too add them to your blog, here we go

1. Add below code for 3X 3 table to your post in Html editor

<table border="2"width="100%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tr>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>

</tr>
<tr>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>

</tr>
<tr>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>

</tr>
</table>

2. Turn to compose mode and you can see a table appears like this

Table Cell	Table Cell	Table Cell
Table Cell	Table Cell	Table Cell
Table Cell	Table Cell	Table Cell

3. Open Photo shop soft ware and prepare 'Nine' thumbnail images with 150 X 150 pixels dimensions and save them with proper names in Jpg format.

4. Open blogger and replace text in nine cells with images you made earlier using insert image tool.

5. Update the post and check once if your thumbnails are displayed properly.

6. If you like to add links to thumbnails, select a image in cell and add link to it using 'Add or remove link' tool. While adding link to image it may not respond first time, click it again to open "Edit link" window and paste the link and save.

7.Update the post and test the thumbnails once.

Note:- Creating images larger than 150 X 150 pixels may cause the thumbnails to encroach into side bars.

 If you wish to have more rows down, just add code again and again as shown below and that creates extra three cell rows below.

<table border="2"width="100%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">

<tr>

<td>Table Cell</td>

<td>Table Cell</td>

<td>Table Cell</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Table Cell</td>

<td>Table Cell</td>

<td>Table Cell</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Table Cell</td>

<td>Table Cell</td>

<td>Table Cell</td>

</tr>

 <tr>

<td>Table Cell</td>

<td>Table Cell</td>

<td>Table Cell</td>

</tr>

 </table>

If you wish to hide lines of table just replace table border attribute "2" with "0"  you can see as below.

I hope you enjoyed this cool tutorial, this is kiran on Bloggermason.blogspot.in . We shall soon meet again with great blogging stuff.Mean while Share this with your friends just for fun.

How to add Social media buttons to blogger blog

Your blog can reach  million people through social media like Face book, twitter, Linkedin etc. Displaying  social media buttons is most common now a days for websites and blogs. Site visitors find these buttons handy to share  interesting useful stuff with their friends.Your blog post can reach a big crowd on click of these magical  buttons. Blog spot doesn't have a widget for social media buttons to be displayed on side bar, header  but there is always a solution at blogger mason. These attractive buttons can fetch lots of organic traffic to your blog and you can see considerable increase in site visitors instantly .  This tutorial explains how to add social media buttons as you can see on the right in simple steps.

You need to add a HTML code to your blog through Html/Java 

 Adding Social Bookmark Buttons to Sidebar or Footer

1. Login to Blogger if not already logged in

2. Navigate to Page Layout

3. Click on Add Gadget in Sidebar or Footer

4. Select HTML/Javascript gadget from the list of available gadgets

5. Copy and paste the code below into Note pad and   

    replace the text www.bloggermason.blogspot.in with your blog address.

6. Replace the title of the blog with title of your choice

7. Click save

<!-- I got this stuff from Bloggermason.blogspot.in -->
<div id="share-buttons">

<!-- Facebook -->
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.Bloggermason.blogspot.in" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.simplesharebuttons.com/images/somacro/facebook.png" alt="Facebook" /></a>

<!-- Twitter -->
<a href="http://twitter.com/share?url=http://www.Bloggermason.blogspot.in&text=Blogging tips &hashtags=Blogging tips" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.simplesharebuttons.com/images/somacro/twitter.png" alt="Twitter" /></a>

<!-- Google+ -->
<a href="https://plus.google.com/share?url=http://www.Bloggermason.blogspot.in" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.simplesharebuttons.com/images/somacro/google.png" alt="Google" /></a>

<!-- Digg -->
<a href="http://www.digg.com/submit?url=http://www.Bloggermason.blogspot.in" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.simplesharebuttons.com/images/somacro/diggit.png" alt="Digg" /></a>

<!-- Reddit -->
<a href="http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.Bloggermason.blogspot.in&title=Blogging tips " target="_blank"><img src="http://www.simplesharebuttons.com/images/somacro/reddit.png" alt="Reddit" /></a>

<!-- LinkedIn -->
<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=http://www.Bloggermason.blogspot.in" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.simplesharebuttons.com/images/somacro/linkedin.png" alt="LinkedIn" /></a>

<!-- Pinterest -->
<a href="javascript:void((function()%7Bvar%20e=document.createElement('script');e.setAttribute('type','text/javascript');e.setAttribute('charset','UTF-8');e.setAttribute('src','http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinmarklet.js?r='+Math.random()*99999999);document.body.appendChild(e)%7D)());"><img src="http://www.simplesharebuttons.com/images/somacro/pinterest.png" alt="Pinterest" /></a>

<!-- StumbleUpon-->
<a href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http://www.Bloggermason.blogspot.in&title=Blogging tips" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.simplesharebuttons.com/images/somacro/stumbleupon.png" alt="StumbleUpon" /></a>

<!-- Email -->
<a href="mailto:?Subject=Simple Share Buttons&Body=I%20saw%20this%20and%20thought%20of%20you!%20 http://www.Bloggermason.blogspot.in"><img src="http://www.simplesharebuttons.com/images/somacro/email.png" alt="Email" /></a>

</div>

7. Check the buttons on your blog once if they are working properly.

8. Drag the social media widget to header section, footer or side bar as you 

    like.

Last but not the least do not forget to share this post on social media. 

Mistakes that most bloggers count

Most bloggers grow ambitious in promoting their blog and sometimes get penalized by google search engine.A penalized blog is no longer displayed in top search pages and soon you will find diminished web traffic. Here I have mentioned few common mistakes of bloggers that attracts google's penalty.

Excessive meta keywords

Using more than five keywords in meta data is some times treated as manipulative act  to gain SEO by google. So, its better to keep it under four.

Spun content

It is a bad idea to make a article with little information appear really  elaborate and exhaustive . Google instantly penalizes such blogs.

Spam commenting

Though your blog has really useful content, you should not boast your blog with too many links on You tube videos and other sites that allow comments. Too much of back links from comments is treated as SEO manipulating act, may attract penality.

Content scraping and duplication:

 Most of the bloggers might  have good intention to make their posts content rich, but scraping content from other sites is not liked by google. So, its better to refer books rather than sites for generating rich content for your blogs. Before posting it is always better to check your content for duplication using Plag spotter or copy scape tracking sites.

Content theft

You may be genuine but others may not. Your post content may instantly copied and published by other bloggers. It is always better practice to disable right click till your post is indexed by google. Once you find your new post indexed in google web master tools, you can enable it. See disabling right click on this blog.

Back links from other language sites

If your blog is pointed through back links from   sites using other languages, google treats your blog is less useful and may demote in page ranks. So, its better to procure back links from healthy blogs and sites with similar language and content. Avoid swapping links with other bloggers, it is treated as an act to manipulate SEO.

Hosting too many advertorials

Displaying too many ads on your blog in the view of generating revenue is not good idea. Too many ad units dominates the content and gives google a opinion of suspicious promoting activity.

How to protect articles from plagiarists

Lot of efforts and time goes into writing of articles. These precious pieces of written works some times  are lifted by plagiarists and are posted on personal blogs and web sites. This act of copying with out permission and credits leaves a dark shadow behind. It cause terrible resentment and agony. So here is a boon for bloggers to check those unauthorized article lifters. By disabling Right click we can  repel the plags.

 

 Disable Right Click

Step:1 Go to Blogger Dashboard
Step:2 Select Template >Edit HTML

Step:3 Find ]]></b:skin> ( Press ctrl+f in Html box, paste ]]></b:skin>      
          and press enter)

Step:4 Copy the following code 

 .post-body {
-webkit-touch-callout: none;
-khtml-user-select: none;
-moz-user-select: -moz-none;
-ms-user-select: none;
user-select: none;

Step:5  Paste the code above ]]></b:skin>

Step:6  Click save template and refresh

Hurrah! now you could  see right click is disabled.

Note:- Book mark this page so that you may  need this code again to enable right click.To enable find ]]></b:skin> and delete the code exactly which as shown above and save the template.Any wrong selection while deleting may cause problems so be cautious.

 

Conclusion

 Disabling right click is temporary solution to stop article lifters but there are always methods to track their activity and take down there blogs or web site using DMCA take down services. There are web sites to check copied articles like Plagium, Copyscape, Virante, DMCA scan. Ones  you trace out your copied article, find the e-mail of the blog owner and send a request mail to take down the  content, if there is no response take help of DMCA services to debar the site.

How to submit a site map to google

 To make your blog generate decent organic traffic, you should submit a site map to google. Submiting a site maps helps google bots to crawl your blog more frequently and find the new content you have posted.This makes your content to reach your potential customers more effectively. If you don,t submit sitemap bots do craw your blog but at slower phase. If you are ameateur blogger you should know "how to submit site map of your blog to google through Google Webmaster Tools. GWT is a kind of control panel lobby where you could control the performance of google crawlers and bots on your site. If you don't want the bots to see your site you can just turn off and keep them away.If you want them to visit your site more often, you can. GWT helps to confirm the ownership of your site that lets the google  to know your are genuine owner of the site. You can monitor the site performance, number of indexed pages, index status and so on explore your self.

When your blog is updated with new posts, you need to tell google so that  google search engines can easily index them. A site map shows the route to bots to reach your new posts at ease. Here we go.

Step:1 Sign in to Google Webmaster Tools.
Step:2 Click on the blog title for which you want to add sitemap.
Step:3 Click on Sitemaps button

Step:4 At the top right corner of the page, press Add/Test sitemap          

             button.Once you click the button, a small box will appear.

             Add the below code in the text field.

atom.xml?redirect=false&start-index=1&max-results=500

This is the sitemap code for your blogger blog which you have to add.

Step:5  Press “Submit Sitemap” button.

             Refresh the page.

The job is done, now the google gets to know the route to your new posts and this action of yours will greatly enhance the blog visibility on google search. 

Note: The above mentioned code will serve the purpose for 500 posts, when you cross 500 you need to update the sitemap with new one which is shown below.

atom.xml?redirect=false&start-index=501&max-results=500

Congrats! enjoy happy blogging and keep visiting us for more tips.

How to get better page rank

   Many bloggers are very much eager to push the popularity of their blogs higher. Popularity and better page ranks on  google  search engine comes out of some hard work and patience. The tips and suggestions in this article are quite helpful to push your blog to better position in google search list. Your blog can attract potential customers only if it is displayed on first three  search pages of google. If it happens, the traffic flows automatically to your site. The purpose of your blog is fulfilled only when it  reaches considerable potential customers. So, let's start with tips and tricks.

SEO friendly blog

The blog should be in  SEO (search engine optimized) format. That means the 

blog should have appropriate Title,description,meta tags and key words. For instance assume that you  made a blog on  "making Hyderabadi dhum Biryani. Posting the blog with tile as "How to make Hyderabad dhum Biryani" is moreSEO friendly and user friendly. People  usually search for their queries by using a tag called "How to". Starting the blog post title with 'How to' tag is best for  optimization.

The description of the blog should be clear  and concise and represent the whole idea of your blogged content in a nut shell. For instance you can describe the blog as " A step by step guide for making delicious Hyderabadi Dhum Biryani" not as  "The blog is about making the Hyderabadi birynai using Spices, Meat, turmeric and so on.

Add appropriate Meta tags to your blog . These are elements which give structured data about your blog. These are words from head section, headings, subheadings from your blog posts. You are supposed to add the words which you have used in the headings of your post separated by commas. Make a list of about twenty catchy words which you used in your blog and paste them in the Meta tags section of  your blog.

Key words are  the words which are likely to be used by potential customers. You have to figure out a list of twenty key words which match your content on your blog. For instance You need key words for Biryani blog, you can prioritize the keywords in the order like  "Hyderabad biryani, Dum biryani,hyderabadi food, Hyderabad restaurants,biryani tips, biryani making, ingredients of biryani, biryani preparation". After making a list of key words you need to add them in Html code of your blog.

Link building

You have to obtain back links from other  established web sites which are of same kind. You need to take some efforts to find some quality blogs and web sites with content relevant to your blog. You have to send some request letters to invite site owners to visit your blog and provide a link to your blog.Remember, your request will be considered, only  if your blog is interesting and unique. Google search engines trusts the blogs with back links from authentic sites.

You can also gain links by commenting  positively on  forums and other's blogs with your blog link specified there. While doing this you should respect the policies and guide lines of forums. Unnecessary spamming of blog links on forums is considered as threat and there is possibility of facing immediate ban of your account.So think a while and act judiciously.

Frequency in posting

The google search engine bots show much of their interest on blogs which are frequently updated with fresh content that matches key words. These bots will never would like to visit a blog with no activity. So, keep posting with some fresh content regularly to stick on the bots to your blogs.

Write compelling articles

To get better traffic you need to write quality articles that suits the need of most potential customers.Scan through several content resources available around you and compose the article with good vocabulary in lucid style that matches  reading capabilities of your potential clients. For this you need a thorough pre-planning and research." A single compelling article is worth, twenty dry articles", sit lonely on terrace or under shade of a tree and churn out some interesting ideas and jot them down on a paper. Prepare a script and later start digitizing it.

Promote your blog on face book

Create a page about your blog on your face book, twitter and linkedin accounts. Mention the soul purpose of your blog and invite your friends circle to visit,like and comment  your blog. If your articles are really interesting, your page gets honest likes and that spreads the word of click on social media fetching you free traffic on  the go.

Pictures and illustrations

"A blog with out pictures looks like an uninteresting thesis'. A plain text running through the lengths of web page looks quite boring for your customers to stick on. Attractive illustrations comes at a coast. It's pretty easy to google out some beautiful pictures and place on your blog, but they might be some other's property. It is against law to copy and use other's creative work, photography,illustrations what ever it is. If you use them, you may be sued or reported to google by copy right holders.The worst part is that ones google gets a bad impression on your site, it  may not accept your adsence request. So, better not touch  them.Here is alternative way to procure some fee imagery for your blog.

Creative commons licensed photos

These image stuff is some thing like free to use but on condition of non commercial purpose. You can find few of them on google advanced image search option and Flickr stock photography site. Make a advanced search of images with out copy right and you are free to use them with out second thought. If you have drawing skills, you can draw interesting illustrations  and scan them to your computer. Google bots crawl the images which are properly named. For example if your blog has pictures of two flowers. Name them as Rose flower and Lotus flower, rather than Img3434.Jpg or Img3435.Jpg. Well named images are shown on google image search results, that can bring traffic to your site.

Submit a sitemap to google

When your blog has a bunch of wonderful posts to be indexed on search engine, you have to help bots  by showing them the path to your new posts. You can do this by submitting a site map to google through google webmaster tools. A site map helps the  google algorithms to rapidly trace out your new posts and index them. The site map is short code which you need to paste in web master tools console.To do this read the article on How to submit site map.

Conclusion

There is no easy path to boost your blog on search indexes. Making your blog SEO compatible by altering the titles,key words. Requesting back links, showing some activity on forums,dedicating some time on writing useful articles, posting fresh content frequently,submitting apt site map to google, building reputation on forums and social media. All these are key to blogger's success.

How to add Meta Keywords in a Blogger Post

 

Meta key words for blog

Meta tags are key words which are used by google search engine to index your web pages or posts. They are like list of  food items on menu card of  restaurant. If you have better key words there are better chances for visitors to find you. You have to specify correct key words relevant to  content on your web pages or posts. These meta tags are used by the search engines to optimize search results, other wise the search engines may just ignore content on your site no matter how useful it is. Make a list of words which describes your post before adding them on your site. Here we go

Step 1. Sign in to your blogger account
Step 2. Select your blog
Step 3. Go to template - Edit Html
Step 4.  Find the code <b:include data=’blog’ name=’all-head-content’/>
Step 5. Then paste the below codes below the above code.

    <b:if cond='data:blog.url == "PAGE-URL"'>
    <meta content='PAGE-DESCRIPTION' name='description'/>
    <meta content='PAGE-KEYWORDS' name='keywords'/>
    </b:if>

Step 6. Replace PAGE-URL with your page URL

              Type meta description  in PAGE-DESCRIPTION.

              Type meta 20 keywords in PAGE-KEYWORD.

Meta description should be in following format The site is about blogging tips, SEO optimization tricks

Keywords should be in following format blogging tips,how to add keywords, how to add meta tags,SEO tips,Robots text,sitemap generation

You can add twenty maximum number of key words.

Step 7. Click on Save template button.

How to create a custom header for blog

     A brilliantly designed header speaks your passion and personal taste. It leaves an impression of your brand in the minds of your site visitors. A well designed header should be visually appealing ,attractive and eye catchy. Headers greatly enhance professionalism of a web site. We can add headers of variety of themes  such as business, leisure, travel, hobbies, art and craft, social service, Pets etc. The regular templates that are available on  some of the  sites seem to be monotonous and does not suit personal taste of blogger. These prefabricated templates are used on and on by multiple bloggers and leads to BIC that is Blogger Identity Crisis.

This is the scenario where a  custom header comes in to light. A custom header reflects all that what you are. It simply shows of your expressions and personality. A regular visitor of your site can perceive the beauty of your thoughts no only through your words but also through your outstanding header.  You can contact me to design one for you. I am at your service. My email. biologyinstructor9@gmail.com

How to upload header in to blog

 

The header above which you see is designed in photoshop and is saved in Jpeg format. The header have 13 X 3inch dimensions, that exactly suits the blogger layout.  Place the file in a folder before we start uploading.Here we go

Open your blogger dash board, find Layout and click on it to open layout settings.

On layout panel find Edit in header box and click on it which opens Configure header window

In the configure header window find Browse and click on it. Locate the header image file in your folder.

It buffers for a while to upload your header to blogger server.When uploading is complete you can see the thumb nail as shown below.

Click preview to see the preview of loaded header in your blog.

Conclusion

A vibrant blog header gives identity to your blog, so design one for your blog now. If you need help, contact me through email I will design one you free of cost.