How To Setup/Host Custom Domain On Blogger

Blogger has already introduced custom domain name. If you purchase a domain name through Blogger, there’s no issue in setting it up because Blogger automatically configures CNAME. However if you purchased the domain name separately, you have to manually configure it. This post I’m going to show you how to host your own domain name on Blogger.

Mainly you have to follow 4 major steps, they are:

1. Adding custom domain on Blogger
2. Getting your domain ownership verification token
3. Change DNS (Domain Name System) settings
4. Verifying Domain name ownership on Blogger

If you don’t have a Blogger account first you have to create it, if you have a Google account you already have a Blogger account, so just log-in to Blogger.

Step 1: Adding custom domain on Blogger

1. Go to http://www.blogger.com/.
2. Now if you already have a blog, select which blog should use the new custom domain name.
3. Go to your selected blog's “Settings > Basic”.
4. Under the “Publishing”, click “Add custom domain”.
   
5. Now in the “Advanced settings” type your new domain name URL.
   
6. Click “Save” button. Then Blogger should display this error:
   “We have not been able to verify your authority to this domain. Error 12. Please follow the settings instructions.”
7. Click “settings instructions”. If you click this link before that error (above), you can’t configure CNAME correctly.

Step 2: Getting your domain ownership verification token

1. Now you will be redirected to the “How do I use a custom domain name for my blog?” page.
2. On this page, tick the “On a top-level domain (www.example.com).” option.
   
3. Once you’ve chosen an option, setup instructions appear. At the beginning of the instructions you should see something similar to the screenshot below.
   
   Pay attention to the two codes highlighted in the screenshot. Those are your domain ownership token. In my example the codes are “J6VKJNRFUXD3" and “gv-JWLTPCFOOA27RPMP3PPRPPW4KZUGVEMMZK365WBH4UHOPYEFUBMA.domainverify.googlehosted.com.”. Your token will be different. 

Step 3: Change DNS settings

1. Go to your domain name registrar’s “DNS console” panel and log-in.
2. Navigate to the “Host Records” click edit.
3. Add a CNAME (Canonical Name) record.
   • For Host Name/Name/Label or Host” field, enter “www” without quotes and
   • For Address/Destination/Target or Points To field, enter “ghs.google.com” without the quotes.
4. Now add another CNAME record. This is for domain ownership verification. 
   • In the Host Name field, paste the first code you get in step 2.3, ex: "J6VKJNRFUXD3".
   • In the Destination field, paste the second code, ex: “gv-JWLTPCFOOA27RPMP3PPRPPW4KZUGVEMMZK365WBH4UHOPYEFUBMA.domainverify.googlehosted.com.”.
   (Use your own codes generated in step 2.3, don’t use the two codes above).
5. Now we should add A (Address) records. If you already have A records, modify them. If not, click “Add” button.
6. You have to add 4 separate A records, pointing to the following Google IP addresses:
   • 216.239.32.21
   • 216.239.34.21
   • 216.239.36.21
   • 216.239.38.21
7. Enter each IP into an “Address” field. In the corresponding “Host Name” field, enter your domain’s naked URL (without “www”, e.g example.com).
   
8. Finally click “Save” button and wait for a few minutes to update all your domain settings.

Step 4: Update your Blogger settings

1. Now go back to “Settings > Basic > Publishing” on Blogger and again enter your custom domain name with “www”.
2. Tick “redirect” option.
3. Finally click “Save” button. If it again displays “Unable to verify authority…” error, wait for a few hours to update your DNS settings and again add your domain name. This time no need to follow Host Records modifications, just add domain name to Blogger publishing section.
4. That’s it, now your blog has a custom domain name.

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5 Interesting Blogging Apps for iPhone

An iPhone is full of features and functionalities, which makes it an ideal device for carrying out a number of tasks. For instance, if you want to reserve a table at your favorite restaurant or book a ticket, all that you have to do is install the relevant app such as Yelp or OpenTable on your iPhone and do the needful.

But, many users don’t know how to tap into the full potential of their iPhones. A case in point would be of bloggers, who have no idea, how to use their iPhones to promote their blogs. So, if you are a regular blogger and use your iPhone for blogging, it is high time you know about some of the apps, which will help you for the same.

Use ‘Byline’ and get the latest updates

The first app in the list is Byline. This useful blogging tool brings you the latest news updates from your favorite blog and news websites, even when you are not connected to the net. Just register for a free Google Reader account and subscribe to all your favorite sites. When you complete this step, Byline will automatically sync with the Reader and fetch all the latest content, RSS and Atom feeds. Who knows, you might even come across some of the best platforms to promote your blog, by reading the latest updates through this app!  

Go live with CoveritLive

There is no better way of promoting your blog than via a live event (this is what I think). So, why not use an app, which lets you engage with your readers in real-time? Hence, I suggest that you install and use CoveritLive app on your iPhone.

As it is evident from the name of the app, it covers various events, news and other stories in real-time. Therefore, use it to launch and run live events on your blog, publish live commentary, photos, audio/video or any other content in real-time, integrate Twitter and much more. This will automatically promote your blog among your readers. Additionally, you will be able to interact live with your readers, approve and moderate their comments, all in real-time. 

Concentrate on creating the best content with WriteRoom

Before promoting your blog, you need to create content, which makes an impact on the users. This is often difficult, given the number of distractions that many bloggers (and other writers for that matter) have to face.

This is where, WriteRoom comes in. It is a no-frills app (no elaborate menus, extra options or formatting features), which provides bloggers and writers with a distraction-free writing environment, so that they can easily concentrate on their blog posts/other content. Additionally, you can also keep the documents created, organized in Dropbox synced folders.  

Options galore with BlogPress

What do you have to say about an app that provides easy blogging options and is integrated with the top social networks? BlogPress is one such app, which does all this and more...

It offers all that you need for promoting your blog right at your fingertips namely– Tags/labels and categories support, Geolocation, scheduled publishing, Emoji icons support and even signature customization. And there is more. This app supports most of the main blogging platforms such as – Blogger, WordPress, TypePad, Drupal, Tumblr and so on and so forth. What more could you possibly want?

Try photo blogging with Photobucket

Photo blogging just became more fun with Photobucket! Use this app on your iPhone by uploading your photos and videos directly from your Camera Roll and Camera app. Also, search the site’s extensive media library to download any photo you want, to your phone. Some of its features include, but are not limited to – geo-tagging, editing photos, managing all media items, and easy sharing of the photos, videos or albums in social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. These features make it easy for you to promote your blog on different platforms.

So, if you are a regular blogger, there is no need to search for ways to promote your blog. Just grab hold of your iPhone, go to iTunes and download the aforementioned apps and use them. I am sure you’ll find at least some, if not all of them useful for your blog.

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Do you Really Need a Blogroll? Weighing the Pros and Cons

So you have successfully begun writing for your own blog and you are starting to gain a lot of contacts with fellow bloggers in similar niches – do you create a blogroll on your blog or not? It is a question that does not have a definitive answer. Some people believe that a blogroll is beneficial to any blogger, while others think that it is completely unnecessary.

So what is a blogroll exactly? It is basically a list of links that is usually made as a sidebar on your blog that links to other blogs. What blogs you put on your blogroll is really up to you, as is the decision of whether or not you believe that you actually need one. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of including a blogroll on your site in an effort to help you decide whether or not you want one if you are still undecided on the issue.  

The pros

One of the main benefits of having a blogroll is that it enables you to easily form good relationships with other blogs. If you are linking to a blog through your blogroll, then that blog is expected to reciprocate and link back to you as well. If you are getting links to your blog from a relevant and valued site in your niche, then this link is good for your Google rank and your reputation in this particular blogging circle. These links that are coming from other sites should also increase traffic to your site as well.

Image credit: Keattikorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

By linking to other blogs you are letting them know of your existence. It is sometimes a lot easier to get the attention of a good blog in this way instead of sending an email to introduce yourself – which may never be read if the blog is very popular and gets a lot of mail on a regular basis. When you link to a blog from your site, blogging software tells the owners of these sites that you have given them a link, which increases the chance of the owners of that blog checking out yours and even subscribing to it if they like what they see and read.

If they subscribe, then the chances of quality cooperation increase as well. These blogs could find content that they like on your site and link to it or, as mentioned before, they could add you to their own blogroll.

Another great thing about blogrolls is that you can tailor them to reflect your personality. It doesn’t have to be just one big list of blog links, you can divide the links up by categories and in that way, even begin to include links to blogs that you read and enjoy, but have little or nothing in common with your own blog. This allows you to reveal your personality to your readers, which might help them connect with you even more if they notice that they share some other passions with you that have nothing to do with your blog’s niche.

The cons

Even though there is a good chance that a blog you have added to your blogroll will link back, it is far from guaranteed. If you are adding tons of blogs to your blogroll and not that many link back to you, it really is not that great for your SEO. One of the biggest problems with having a blogroll is that it can get enormous really quickly. Knowing when to stop and who to include is essential. Also, if you put too many blogs on your blog roll, your readers might no longer view it as a valuable resource, since it’s obvious that you have no policies and that you are giving every blog under the sun a link.

Image credit: winnond / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you are including too many people, you might not be getting the links back that you are looking for, and if you are being really picky, then you might be offending other bloggers who did not make the cut. So it really is a double-edged sword.

Deciding who to add and why you are adding them might become more of a pain in the neck in the end than an actual benefit, leaving many bloggers to find it much easier to just get rid of the blogroll entirely.

If something is worth the effort, then you are ready to do it, but if an aspect of your site takes more time to maintain than it is worth, it’s time to put an end to it. Most of us start off as freelance and part-time bloggers, so we don’t have all day to fuss about with our blogs. Maintaining your blogroll could be taking valuable time away from doing more important things, namely, creating quality content for your blog and being a writer.

Having a big blogroll will undoubtedly lead to a lot of maintenance work. As we all know, the shelf-life of some blogs are sometimes limited and you could be dealing with a lot of dead links in your blogroll that you will have to delete. Having to click through your blogroll and identify the dead links in order to remove them can be a very painstaking pastime, especially if your blogroll is huge. Ignoring these dead links and letting them rot in your blogroll will make your blog look unprofessional to readers constantly annoyed by clicking on links that don’t work.  

The conclusion

Ultimately, the choice is yours. It certainly can’t hurt experimenting with a blogroll to see where it leads. If you run into more benefits than problems, if you have the time to maintain it, and if you can deal effectively with the politics of who to put on your blogroll and who to leave off, then you might be someone who can use a blogroll to his or her advantage. If you run into more hang-ups than advantages, then it might not be for you. Just like all things in blogging and in general, it won’t hurt to try it out and see where it leads. It’s all a part of the learning process and it’s always better to try something out for yourself than to take the word of other bloggers and blindly follow the recommendations of others. Give blogrolls a shot and see for yourself!

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How to redirect Blogger 404 Error (Page Not Found) to homepage

When a user goes to a nonexistent URL on your blog, Blogger will display this Error 404 (Page Not Found) message at the top of your blog post area:

"Sorry, the page you were looking for in this blog does not exist."

Hmm… probably not the best first impression you’d want to give a potential reader. Before  the user hits the Back button or closes the browser’s window/tab and disappears forever, you might want to redirect the page to your homepage (or to a page of your choice) where the chances of him/her staying and reading is (presumedly) far greater.

One of the ways to redirect is to use meta refresh, but the problem with this method is it breaks navigation (it wont go back to the page you came from when you hit Back button). The better method is by using Javascript, and I think I’ve found the simplest way to do this on Blogger.

It is wise to include these two components in the redirection process:

• Redirection message - to inform that the page doesn’t exist and the user is about to be redirected. Failure to do so will make the user feels cheated when the searched information is nowhere to be found on the landing page (homepage). Here’s an example:
  
  "Sorry, the page you were looking for in this blog does not exist. You will be redirected to homepage shortly.”
• Time delay - to provide sufficient time for the user to read the message prior to redirecting.

Based on the above example, this is how you add the new message and the redirect script to your blog:

1. Go to Settings > Search preferences > Custom Page Not Found (under Errors and redirections).
2. Click Edit and paste this:
   view sourceprint?

   1	Sorry, the page you were looking for in this blog does not exist. You will be redirected to homepage shortly.

   2	<script type = "text/javascript">

   3	//Blogger 404 Redirect v1.0 by GreenLava(BloggerSentral.com)

   4	BSPNF_redirect = setTimeout(function() {

   5	location.pathname= "/"

   6

   }, 5000);

   7

   </script>

   
   
   
   
   • The top is the message. You are free to change it.
   • To redirect to a page/site other than your homepage, replace pathnamewith href, and / with the URL of the page/site.
   • The number 5000 is the delay in milliseconds. You can change it to whatever value you think appropriate. Zero means immediate redirect (no delay).
3. Click Save changes.

To test simply enter any URL that doesn’t exist in your domain/subdomain (e.g. http://yourblog.blogspot.com/dfsfgd) and see if your new Page Not Found message appears, followed by redirection after 5 seconds.

If you find any bugs/side effects, please let us know in the comments.

Enjoy!

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10 Reasons why readers don’t visit your blog again

This article is a great little tool to use, to judge whether your blog is scaring readers away. Each numbered item contains a number of criticisms that a person reading your blog may make.

Read each paragraph and pay attention to each comment made in each sentence, and ask yourself, “Could someone make this comment about my blog?” Some paragraphs may only have one comment/sentence that you think applies to your blog, where other paragraphs may be stuffed with criticisms that may apply to your blog.

1. Not different enough

Your blog looks like everybody else’s, which is further damaged by the fact that you do not post interesting blogs on topics that are not frequently covered.

• There is nothing new, interesting or original about your blog.
• The graphics and layout is dull, predictable and boring.

2. Hard to read

You make your blog too hard to read with small text or fonts that are harder to read.

• Your blog may look nice with an italic twist or a handwritten look, but it is difficult to read, especially if the reader is tired.
• The color of your blogs background makes it harder to read because there is not enough contrast between the two.
• The way you layout your text makes it harder to follow.
• It is too modular and it is hard to see which paragraph follows which.
• Your background colors are too distracting.

3. Your blog takes a lifetime to load

• Images and stuff are nice but people are clicking on you to read something and they have to wait ten minutes for it to load.
• Your JavaScript’s run too slow, and sometimes they crash or bring up pop up that says they are unstable.
• There is a stupid flash intro, which is annoying, even though you are allowed to skip it.
• The HTML tables are making it take even longer to load, which is boring, and your content is fast becoming NOT worth the wait.

4. Insubstantial content

There are widgets everywhere, so clearly your content is not good enough to stand-alone.

• There is a widget for every social media on earth, and a share section, and one to translate, etc. In short there are too many widgets.
• The sheer amount of widgets on the screen is silly, and pointless, and is casting some real doubt over the legitimacy of the text and the character that created it. Clearly the person who created the blog has no idea what he or she is doing.

5. It is off putting

The text is too confrontational and people feel like they should not even bother engaging with the text.

• It is too opinionated without giving any factors as to why the blogger believed what they believe.
• The blog is stating opinion as fact without proper proof.

6. Lacks approachability

Your blog sounds like it is written by government official or a police officer, so why bother commenting.

• Clearly the person who wrote the blog is a master of whatever they are writing about and the commenter will just be shot down.
• There is no room for other opinions and so why bother commenting, or even bothering to engage with the text.
• Your blog has no opinions in it whatsoever.
• It reads more like a collection of information or a technical data sheet than it does a blog.
• The blog feels like it was written by a computer and not by a person who has feeling, insight or any motivation for writing the text.

7. Not original

The text on the blog has clearly been spun from another article.

• Many of the word choices are not ideal for the blog and its topic.
• Many of the sentences do not flow correctly or have incorrect grammar.
• The writing seems stale and its context and syntax jumps from paragraph to paragraph.
• It is too much of a mixture of casual writing and professional writing.
• It jumps from first, second and third person perspective throughout the text.

8. Lacks consistency

There is no consistency in the blogs posted from one week to the next. For example, one week the blogger is pro-democrat, but then the next week the blog is hailing Republican values.

• The blogs show no sign of consistency in their topics -one week the topic is on flower arranging; the week after it is pro-choice.
• The person perspectives are not consistent from post to post. One is in the third person when dealing with one topic, and in first person when dealing with another.

9. The blog is too controversial

• People do not want to log on every week to be angered, insulted or upset.

10. Lacks style

It feels as if there is more than one writer doing the blog.

• The quality of the writing changes from post to post, and the vocabulary use frequently changes from week to week (not to mention style).

To be a "readable" blogger isn't so easy as you might think. You should spend lot of time and energy to improve your writing and designing skills. Furthermore, don’t forget to listen to your readers' voices because they are your main force in blogging world.

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