I know the feeling of starting a blog and wanting to make a living from this new baby of yours. I know you want it to be successful and I know it brings you joy to work on it either every single day or at least when you have free time.
And I want you to be a successful blogger, someone who makes a good part-time and/or full-time income from their blog. As new bloggers, you'll soon understand that in the blogging world there is no such thing as instant gratification, and with intense competition each year the road gets just a little tougher every single time.
Don't worry though, I don't say these things to make you feel like you'll never make it, I would rather tell you the truth from the get go. I want you to be prepared for the hard work, and I don't want you to feel that you will start making money the minute you start your blog. With that said, I've been receiving a lot of emails about the "right time" to start monetising a blog.
The ideal time to start monetising a blog
My personal advice for this would be to not wait for a later time, when you finally get around to monetising your blog. This is also the advice I usually give to most of my blog coaching clients. I understand why some bloggers, and coaches feel like it's better to wait for around "x" number of sessions or visits monthly before you monetise but I feel, if your blog is able to get accepted into affiliate programs or be approved for showing ads then you should just go ahead with it.
Sure you won't see a lot of money rolling in, but the small amounts you do see will benefit you.
Why?
Because it will motivate you! It will help you to keep blogging, and help you believe that this goal or dream that you have can be turned into a reality. I see so many bloggers calling it quits after an year, because they never earned anything from their blog. And honestly, I feel sad for them. I feel sad for every blogger out there who has had to quit simply because they couldn't afford to blog anymore and were not earning from their blog anyway.
And to be completely honest with you right now, I hate it when that happens. You see, I love blogging. I've been in love with blogging since late 2014 when I hadn't even started this blog. When I used to blog about all the random happenings in my college life... I liked blogging so much, I decided to not take up a job, to study design and development which I'd never done before and then in 2016, I launched this blog.
I want to make sure you will be able to blog long enough to start making an income out of it, but do you know you're leaving a few bucks here and there on the table when you don't monetise your blog from the get go? And that seeing those few extra dollars, or whatever currency is used where you are can really help motivate you be consistent and keep working hard? Not to mention you can use the extra cash for investing in your blog at a later date.
I remember when I first made my first $100 blogging, it was not a huge amount but it made sure that I didn't quit, it motivated me. And as a blogger, self-motivation will help keep you going in the first few years of your blogging journey where you'll probably only be making a part-time income.
I'm in my 5th year with this blog at the time of writing this blog post, and my blog helps me bring in clients every single month that help me run my small home-based business. I'm so thankful for it. I don't monetise too aggressively on this blog, as I don't want you to have a bad experience reading content on my blog, so I politely ask for donations to help fund this blog.
So, if your blog has a decent amount of content on it I suggest you apply for Adsense, and affiliate programs to start making an income, no matter what the amount is right away. Another reason I like the monetise early method is because when you monetise early you won't have to go back to old posts (one less task to do) to update them all with affiliate links all the time.
Wondering how to monetise your blog?
Generally speaking, most bloggers will monetise their blog in the following way:
- Advertisements
- Affiliate marketing
- Sponsored posts
- Selling a service or a product
- Donations
As you may have already guessed it, for Balkeni Studio, I sell my services and products as my main income bringer. Apart from this, you'll see me monetise this blog with a few advertisements and a bit of affiliate marketing (I'm picky with this as I only want to recommend something I use and really like). But as advertisements and affiliate marketing on this blog is negligible, I rely on donations to help fund the blog.
Depending on your blog and what your aim with it is, you'll be relying on these methods to monetise your blog. I'll be writing on these means of monetisations in depth in an upcoming blog post, so you might want to subscribe to the blog to receive these blog posts directly in your inbox.
Let's be inbox buddies!
Want to fast track your blog's growth?
The best way to quickly learn all the ins-and-outs in the blogging world is to learn from someone whose already been doing it for quite some time. I've been a blogger for quite some time and have helped many bloggers go from $0 to $500 per month. You can choose a one-on-one coaching package from me or a more affordable solution ($50/year membership) depending on where you are on your journey.
I hope this blog post has helped you and you've enjoyed reading it. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave them down in the comments section below. Oh and help support this blog by funding it if you've liked the content. I put in hours ever month to bring you lots of freebies, advice, tutorials and tips.
INFO : If you donate via buy me a coffee, you'll automatically get access to all future supporter exclusive content such as more tutorials, freebies etc.
I hope that you've benefitted from this blog post as I've written it from my experience and with lots of love. You can request a tutorial or a blog post that you'd like to read about from me in the future here.
It's March already! Ever since I decided to to say "I'll start next month" to the gym membership I'd been planning to enroll myself in 3 months ago... time sure has flown me by. Jokes apart, I'd like to bring you the wallpapers for this month. As always the smartphone/iPhone version is free for download for all as a token of thanks for supporting my small business.
I hope you'll enjoy this freebie!
You can get your hands on this wallpaper for free. Or you can buy me a coffee and get the entire pack of matching wallpapers here.
OR
If you already support me on buy me a coffee (if you're a member), this set of wallpapers is free for you!As always, I hope you like the content I create for you and that it helps you. If there's anything, a tutorial, or a request you'd like me to address, get in touch with me or leave a comment below. Happy to hear from you.
IMPORTANT : These wallpapers whether the free version or the purchased set is/are only for your personal use, any commercial use is prohibited. Also, please be nice and don't claim my work as your own.
Let's be inbox buddies!
This tutorial has been highly requested. The first request for the tutorial landed in my inbox through the tutorial request option that I have available on my website. However I did not get around to publishing it until now due to lots of client work and personal projects.
Not to mention, I started a membership that bloggers on blogger could enjoy. Many of these things kept this tutorial as a draft in my post. But here we are and I'm happy to bring this tutorial for any of you who need/needed it. And that too in 4 easy steps:
01. Navigate to the backend of your blogger template
Make sure that you are logged in to your blogger dashboard. Then go to:
Theme > Customise (Click the dropdown instead of the button) > Edit HTML
02. Search And Add Code
Once you are in the HTML editor of your theme, click anywhere on the code once and press Command + F (For Mac users) or Control + F (for windows users), this will open a search dialogue in the editor, now, search for this code:
.post-body
TIP : Copy this piece of code and paste it directly in the search box.
You will now hit enter once and add the following code right after the curly bracket ("{"):
line-height:1.6;
TIP : increase or decrease the number in the code (1.6) above to experiment with the line height you think is best for your blog posts.
03. Save your work
Once yo made all these changes, make sure to click the save button and save your template to commit to the changes you just made.
TIP : Remember to back up your blog before you start tinkering around with the theme HTML, it's generally a good idea to keep weekly backups of your blog content and theme. Also, please work in a fresh window, I know some of you have multiple blogs and you don't want to edit the wrong blog! Always check to see if you are editing the right theme.
That's it, you're done! You'll now notice that the distance (spacing) between the lines of a paragraph in your blog post has increased. Obviously a lesser or greater number will decrease or increase this spacing respectively. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!
I tried to make it very simple so that even people that are not tech savvy can approach this tutorial and follow through with it easily. If you have any questions and/or doubts, suggestions, please feel free to leave them in the comments down below. And as always, comments with links and/or spammy comments will not be published.
Don't wish to put up with the hassle of doing this all by yourself?
Custom Work - Minor Customisations
Let me take care of making any line height and blog post text related issues and problems for you if you find the tutorial too complex. Just sit back and relax while I work out the styling kinks for your blog. Trust me, I love working wih blogger and have helped 60+ bloggers with their blogs till date. This number inceases every month by God's grace. I'd love to help you out as well. Still not sure? I've been a product expert for blogger in the official forum for years now! Let's touch base and help you with your blog.
If you have any other tutorial or request for a blog post for me, please feel free to submit it here. If you have any issues you'd like me to personally check for you, you can take a look at my services or get in touch directly.
If you like you can even follow my blog by adding it to your reading list and stay up-to-date with all my posts. Or simply sign-up to receive my blog posts directly in your inbox.
Let's be inbox buddies!
Want to be part of my community?
I currently run two free groups on Facebook. One is exclusively for bloggers on the blogger platform, where we discuss everything blogger, I help people in my group with their requests, offer free consultations and more. The other group I run is for bloggers that are currently trying to build up their blogs, if you're either of those or both, I'd love to connect with you there!
P.S. If you like reading content on my blog please help me keep the good work up by donating to the blog. If you choose to support me, you help me put out even more content than before, freebies and tutorials because not only does that support the studio it also compensates me for hours of work I put in to these blog posts. As you'll notice, I don't heavily monetise this blog because your user-experience matters to me, your donation helps make up for the lack of aggressive advertising on this blog. I'll be super thankful if you choose to donate!
You can make a one-time donation or become a supporter on buy me coffee and grab even more freebies and unlock premium content.
This year I decided to start a free resources section for all the wonderful readers of this blog. I love writing for you but now it's time to start offering free wallpapers! I love making them and have been designing my own for a very long time. Ever since I learned to design I believe?
I hope you'll enjoy this freebie!
You can get your hands on this wallpaper for free. Or you can buy me a coffee and get the entire pack of matching wallpapers here.
OR
If you already support me on buy me a coffee (if you're a member), this set of wallpapers is free for you!As always, I hope you like the content I create for you and that it helps you. If there's anything, a tutorial, or a request you'd like me to address, get in touch with me or leave a comment below. Happy to hear from you.
IMPORTANT : These wallpapers whether the free version or the purchased set is/are only for your personal use, any commercial use is prohibited. Also, please be nice and don't claim my work as your own.
Let's be inbox buddies! I'll only e-mail you when a new blog post goes up, there's a freebie up for grabs or it's something you might be interested in.
In today's blog post, I want to show you how to set-up an auto-updating recipe index for your food blog on blogger. This has been one of the most requested tutorials of all time.
I can understand this, it is actually a very good practice to put your users (readers/audience) first, and with Google changing its algorithm ever so often it's even more apparent that the future of SEO is much more reliant on good design and user experience.
What does this mean for you as a blogger? It means, you want to make it extremely easy for your readers to find content that they are looking for on your website easy and confusion-free.
One of the best ways to put years worth of content in front of your audience is through putting it up in a category that updates automatically as and when you publish a post. This is exactly what I'm showing you how to do in this post.
Here are some of the requirements of this tutorial:
- You'll need a blogger theme that has a gallery page layout enabled on label pages or a theme can be easily customised to have gallery pages on label pages.
- You'll need to have all your blog posts sorted into the labels you want
How to get a gallery enabled blogger theme
One of the simplest ways to do this would be to buy a theme (usually not that expensive). I recommend this theme from my shop, or this one to completely forego having to go through this tutorial (Cookin' Daily is a responsive blogger theme which comes with a built in-recipe index and it updates automatically and the best part is the free installation that I offer with all my themes along with lifetime support for theme related issues).
If you don't have the budget for a blogger theme, I'll show you how to use a free theme from blogger to do so as well. Of course, I recommend upgrading to a premium theme whenever you can because of the added features and customisability.
TIP : If you intend to blog seriously and to make it a full-time or part-time income maker in your life, I do definitely recommend investing in your blog by having a functional and beautiful design and brand.
Let's get into it.
INFO : You need to have labels in your posts for this method to work!
Step 01: Grab the HTML
First, you will need to copy and save this HTML somewhere you won't lose it. I prefer using Trello or Evernote. But you can use whatever you like.
<div class="recipe-index">
<a href="THE LINK TO YOUR BLOGGER LABEL" target="_blank">
<img alt="ALT TAG FOR YOUR IMG" height="400" src="LINK TO YOUR IMAGE" width="600" />
</a>
<br />
<div class="desc">
<a href ="THE LINK TO YOUR BLOGGER LABEL">NAME OF THE CATEGORY</a></div>
</div>
Step 02: Install the CSS in your blogger theme
Now that you have saved the HTML for use, you will need to add the CSS to your blogger theme. To do this:
- Go to Theme > Customise > Advanced > Add CSS
Then you will copy the following code:
/* Recipe Index Code by Balkeni Studio
-------------------------------------- */
div.recipe-index {
margin: 5px;
border: 1px solid pink;
float: left;
width: 48.8%;
}
div.recipe-index:hover {
border: 1px solid #777;
}
div.recipe-index img:hover {
opacity: 0.5;
}
div.recipe-index img {
width: 100%;
height: auto;
max-height: 400px;
object-fit:cover;
}
.desc {
padding: 15px;
text-align: center;
}
.post-body img, .post-body a img, .post-thumb img, .post-thumb a img {
margin:0;
}
@media screen and (max-width: 1216px) {
div.recipe-index {
margin: 5px;
border: 1px solid pink;
float: left;
width: 100%;
display: block;
margin: 0 auto;
margin-top: 10px;
}
div.recipe-index img {
width: 100%;
height: auto;
max-height: none;
}
}
/* END - DO NOT REMOVE THESE CREDITS!
-------------------------------------- */
Now that you have copied the code paste it in the Add CSS section then click Save.
You are now ready to set-up your Recipe Index page.
Step 03. Make A Recipe Index Page
The next step is to make a page in your blogger blog and call it "Recipe Index". You will then go to the HTML section of your blog and paste the HTML you saved in the first step.
Note: You will paste this same code in this page according to the number of categories you have. So, if you have 6 categories, you will paste this code in 6 times.
Step 04: Adding in your content
It is already mentioned in the HTML you copied how to customise the contents of your gallery, but for your ease of use, I'll mention it here as well.
- THE LINK TO YOUR BLOGGER LABEL: This is the link to the label of the category you want to use. To grab the link of your label, just view a post with the label you want, then click on that label, once that page loads, just copy the link from the address bar.
- THE ALT TAG FOR YOUR IMAGE: This is purely for SEO purposes and for people with disabilities like visual impairment when they read your website. You will write the name your image describing what it is here. For example, apple pie.
- THE LINK TO YOUR IMAGE: You should have your image for the category uploaded in the media for your blog, just right-click the image you want to use and grab the link of the image and paste it in this section.
- NAME OF THE CATEGORY: You will add the name of your category here.
And that's it. You're done! Now, this page will automatically enable people clicking on the categories to be taken to your most recent posts in that category, and it will keep itself updated.
Easy, right?
P.S. wanna forego all this hassle? I've got just the product for you!
Cookin' Daily - A Responsive Blogger Template
Cookin' Daily is a premade blogger template specially designed for food bloggers, or bloggers in the health, wellness, lifestyle or nutrition industry. It comes with a custom landing page and an auto-updating blog recipe index, beautiful gallery pages and a blog layout that's optimised for running ads on your blog and offers your audience a great user experience by keeping it simple yet branded and easy for your audience to find any post they are looking for!
I hope you liked this tutorial! If you have any questions about this tutorial or a step confuses you, feel free to leave a comment below for help.
However, please do not attach your blog links in the comment, If I'll need a link to your blog I'll reply with further instructions to get in touch with me. Comments with links will not be published and will end up in the spam!
If you've enjoyed this tutorial, please support my work by donating using the buy me a coffee option (you can even use the coffee icon at the bottom-right of your screen!), it really helps me write more tutorials. Writing blog post takes a lot of time and effort as many of you may already know, and I want to be able to keep the blog alive and free for all of you.
A small donation really helps me stay motivated and be compensated for the time, energy and effort I put into my work. As always, thank you so much for your support! Wondering why donate? Read about my mission here.
Alternatively, you can even help me spread the word by sharing this blog post with your followers!
If you've got any other tutorial or blog post in mind that you'd like to read about, make sure to send in a request here. I'd love to write for you!
You can even sign up follow my blog by adding it to your reading list or signing up to receive blog posts directly in your inbox.
If there's anything else, I hope you let me know in the comments down below. It's always lovely to hear from you all! and if you'd like more support feel free to join the community for bloggers on blogger (FB group) and the new bloggers (FB group) run by me to help you with all you blogging and blogger woes!
This year, my focus has been more on helping bloggers with branding. One of the first steps towards a rememberable brand is a distinct logo that your audience just connects with. For a lifestyle blog, this can mean having your own photo turned into an illustration!
If you follow me on my personal Instagram, you'll know I love watercolours. Thus, when the opportunity presented itself I did not think for another second.
This particular look was achieved digitally using my ipad pro, apple pencil and my favourite watercolour brushes for the illustration and my trusted adobe suite for making the logo and the blog header.
Blog Header
Logo
Over all, we were happy with how it turned out. Using your own self as a reference for an illustration, guarantees a unique stylised logo and header.
Keywords: cute, girly, preppy and full of life.
If you're interested in getting a logo similar to this one or something else entirely, feel free to get in touch or visit my shop!
When you are considering starting a blog with Google's Blogger platform, it can be scary if someone tells you that blogger is not a good blogging platform, one of the most common reasons cited is not being able to monetise your blogger blog effectively or at all
And so, I've decided to help you understand why the statement above is not true. You can have a blog on blogger and you can monetise it effectively and even to great lengths. It's no different from having a blog on any other blogging platform.
I have been blogging on blogger for a bit over 4 years at the time of writing this blog post, I do earn from my blog. And my blog along with my work is the only job I have ever had. I've not worked a traditional 9-5 a day in my life, I do however work 8 hours a day usually.
I'm here to prove to you that it's not only possible to run a blog successfully on blogger but also your entire business if you know what you're doing. But more on that in a moment, let's first learn why blogging on blogger does not affect your ability to be able to earn from your blog.
How do bloggers actually earn an income from their content?
I've actually given you a bit of a spoiler already. Bloggers earn from their content. Most bloggers that earn an income from their blog do so by mainly the following streams of monetisation:
- Advertising using an ad network or selling direct ad spaces on their blog.
- Affiliate marketing
- Selling services/products
- Paid sponsorships/Brand sponsorships
- Donations
Blogger terms of use and content policy are simple, they do not state that they own any content you create on their platform or limit your use of their platform in a way that you would not be able to use these mentioned streams of monetisation.
Now, my question is, do you still feel it's not possible to monetise a blogger blog? I run this blog on blogger, I have been able to monetise it using all mentioned streams of monetisations. And it's not just me, there are other bloggers on blogger who make a part-time and/or full-time income from their blogs.
In my 4 years of working with bloggers on the blogger platform I've seen them all being able to monetise their blogs, in fact, I believe that they do have somewhat of an advantage, you know. And I'd like to prove my point, so here we go.
Why bloggers on blogger may have an advantage over other bloggers who use different blogging platforms?
It all really comes down to how Blogger is made and who owns it and how it is a free to use platform. This is where you can really see how much of an edge you get if you use Google's Blogger platform.
Let me explain more about this:
- Out-of-the-box blogger is SEO friendly, with means to be able to make it even more so. You can add meta tags, custom robots tag and enable meta descriptions and so much more. It's easy and most of it is just a few clicks away, not very complicated.
- Blogger is free. This makes it a great choice not only for those on a budget but even those that do not have budget constraints. Whether you are a new blogger or a more experienced one, blogger is a platform which allows you to host your blog for free forever. It doesn't matter how many visitors you get - which on other platforms cost you, the more you have the more you pay. And the best part about having a free platform is that you can invest your budget into other things like a premium blogger theme that makes your blog look more professional, or a logo — the same money you would have given away to your blog host if you were on another platform.
- You can easily integrate AdSense into your blogger blog. In fact, there is an earnings tab that tells you if your blog qualifies for AdSense if it does you can sign up with a few clicks, it's easy and you can start earning a passive income right away if you have enough audience on your blog.
- Blogger is affordable. Custom services and tech support for blogger is usually more affordable than for other platforms. I offer tech support and services for the blogger platform, and it is quite affordable. If you're new and can't afford to pay, you can join my Facebook groups for free help or help based on a donation. It's all about building a loving and nurturing community where you don't have to feel guilty, bad or ashamed of not having a budget and wanting help. We don't judge. All bloggers are welcome.
- Blogger is simple and easy to use. It's straightforward. You can create pages and you can create posts, you can categories them and a lot of it is drag and drop. The rest is just clicking of buttons here and there. Support is available through the official support forum, or you can even get in touch with me (I'm a product expert who volunteers in the official support forum too.) And if all else fails just write about it in the comments section of this post and hopefully I'll have a resolution for you.
These are just some of the advantages of blogging on blogger. I feel the community over at blogger is really good. Personally, for me, I've made long-lasting connections with many of my clients and the people in my Facebook groups, I regularly connect with them and everyone takes care of each other.
I value honesty and transparency, leading a heart-centred business is important to me. And at the core of it all is actually helping bloggers and keeping things affordable around here.
I know you may still be feeling a bit apprehensive or hesitant even when it comes to choosing your blogging platform, you may have heard things like blogger isn't customisable, or it lacks plugins and more. I'd like to address some of these fears that make you feel like you're missing out.
What are the most common myths attached to the blogger platform?
Let's start by discussing some blogger myths that you may have read everywhere but are actually not true:
- Blogger owns the content you create: No, that's not true. As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog post, blogger's terms of service and content policy never indicate that they own the content you create.
- Blogger does not have plugins: That's true. But the thing is, blogger is made differently and does not need plugins. It uses widgets and you can code in any custom functionality you might need on your blog. Personally, I have custom features and codes added in that help me make click-to-tweet sections, tables, buttons and more. You could have them installed on your blog too, I offer these as part of my services and they are usually a one-time setup. Moving forward, you just have to copy and paste code snippets in your blog posts. I've helped clients add star ratings, Facebook like buttons, recipe indexes and more.
- Customisation options are limited: This used to be true because bloggers gives you only a handful of templates to choose from. And without coding knowledge, it was quite limited what you could make your blog do. But now, you can choose from a variety of blogger templates that are fast, SEO-optimised, and look beautiful on all devices as they are responsive. The best part, they are very affordable!
- Blogger templates are not optimised for SEO: SEO is a vast topic, to think a template can help you get a Google Page #1 rank shows in of itself your lack of SEO knowledge. There are many on-page, off-page and technical aspects of SEO and they keep changing apart from some basic ones. My own line of blogger templates are SEO-optimised to the point they can be. My clients do report an increase in traffic after using one of my templates but I believe most of it is to do with a good code-structure and the design of the templates that make them look professional. Many people have commented on the fact that you can no longer tell the difference between a blog designed on blogger or any other platform because of how customisable the nature of the blogger platform is!
- You can't sell your products on Blogger or have your own store: Back in the early 2000s the options were truly limited, but now, you can sell directly on your blogger blog. Physical or digital products. Even your own services, for that matter and it's one of the most affordable ways to sell online through your blogger blog. If you don't like this solution you can even use other solutions like blogger shop set-up that I offer to my clients. It's a shop hosted on a blogger blog, managed and maintained by you. I offer free training, advice and consultation if you opt for this package. If you want to see a demo of the blogger shop and what yours could look like, have a look at Balkeni Studio's Blogger Shop. It's customisable and you can choose from a range of designs and costs only a one-time setup fee instead of a monthly recurring fee!
- Blogger is old and can be shut down any minute by Google: Blogger is old, but as of late it has received many a complete revamp, a mobile responsive structure and many new changes. I would doubt Google wants to shut it down after it is spending so much time re-vamping things around. But in the scenario, years later, if Google decides to shut it down, I'm sure it will give us options to migrate our data and enough time to do so as well. Companies and products are shut down and abandoned all the time, but I don't think its time yet for blogger as the community here is thriving.
Now, let's get back at the question we bean with. Is it possible to monetise your blogger blog? I believe knowing what you know now, you should already know the answer, but let me make it clearer for you.
Can you actually monetise a blogger blog?
Yes, yes you can! And you'll have the tools available to do so as well. I've mentioned many resources here that can help you get started and effectively monetise your blogger blog. The beauty of starting on blogger is that you can experiment with it.
Just start and find out if blogging really is your thing, I feel it's a great option for bloggers and service-based entrepreneurs. The best thing is, it's free so you won't have to feel like you're running out of budget and everything is so costly. You won't feel money holding you back from making your dreams a reality.
And the best thing? Your blogger blog can grow with you. Once you get how things work around the blogosphere, and your blog starts to grow you can invest back in it, you can start to sell your own products, services and more.
As a web designer, blogger is my platform of choice for bloggers and service-based entrepreneurs. I feel it accomplishes everything one may need to run a successful blog or freelance business.
Conclusion
Well, you already know its more than possible to monetise a blogger blog and now you also know why you should start a blog on blogger. I really think you should be able to make an informed choice that isn't influenced by someone wanting to make money off of you but backed by actual advice.
And now in case you do decide to blog on blogger I'd love for you to get in touch with me and hopefully join my community.
If you've enjoyed reading this blog post, please consider donating to my blog. It helps me put more content out regularly for you to enjoy and take your blog to the next level. If there is a blog post or tutorial you'd like to see, you can request it here.
And finally, don't forget to follow my blog by adding it to your reading list or signing up to receive blog posts directly in your inbox.
P.S. Need consultation about your blog? I'm here to help you. No matter what you're looking for. Let's get in touch and help you take your blog to the next level. You can choose between any of my two consultation packages or book a one-hour intensive session with me.
Or help me spread the word!
Over the years bloggers on blogger have always had a bit of a tough time. They've complained that the HTML section of the post adds some many extra "<div>" tags to their blog posts. In my time using blogger, I have also seen this happen to my own posts sometimes and If I didn't write and format my posts correctly, the HTML quickly becomes a mess.
Recently blogger came out with a new update, this introduces a new system that blogger never had before and it does tackle the problem of blogger generating extra "<div>" tags every single time in blog posts when a line break was added, or when a new paragraph was created.
I'll talk to you about the new system in a bit and what it means for blogger going forward but for now, I'm happy to report that I'm no longer facing the DIV problem anymore where it just creates an endless stream of div tags in the HTML mode of my post.
So why was it a problem?
When Blogger adds extra div tags in blog posts it creates unnecessary HTML in said blog posts, this can cause your blog posts to sometimes behave in an unusual manner when it comes to the formatting of the post. The main problem that bloggers were encountering was that these extra div tags were creating problems with Mediavine; a premium ad network. And when ad revenues drop, it becomes a source of panic, worry and in some cases complete overwhelm.
I regularly tell my clients and other bloggers on blogger to share all bugs, glitches and problems directly with the blogger team by using the feedback button. It's a question mark icon, next to your blogger account image in the blogger dashboard on the top-right corner. At the time of writing this post, it's actually the third icon from the top-right.
This small act makes sure blogger is free from glitches and you get the best blogging experience on blogger.
How was this problem solved?
Well, blogger announced some updates this month. These updates involved the introduction of a new updated way of generating HTML in blog posts, including <p> (paragraph) tags. When you start using <p> tags, you won't notice anymore casual div tags in your posts and if you're still using the old way blogger generates HTML for blog posts, then pressing shift+enter on your keyboard will create a <br> (line break) tag for you without any extra HTML getting generated in your blog posts.
How to toggle between the old blog post HTML and new HTML generation?
It's quite simple, and like most other things in blogger, you can do so with just a small click in your blog post editor. Once you're in the blog post editor, you'll see a handful of icons that allow you to edit and format your blog posts.
They look like this.
You'll see this image says Paragraph, in your case, it might say either of these two:
- Paragraph (new HTML generation)
- Normal (Old HTML generation)
Just make sure to set whichever mode you prefer before you start writing your blog posts in your blogger blog.
And that's it, you're done.
I hope this blog post has helped you understand your blogger blog better and will help you use your blogger blog in a more efficient way. I hope this post will also solve any of your Mediavine ad displaying problems in your blogger blog.
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- For bloggers on blogger (best for bloggers on blogger, come discuss all your blogger related stuff, issues and more directly with a blogger product expert — that's me.) Join here
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If you've been wanting to start a blog, and were considering blogger as your blogging platform of choice but were immediately told off by other bloggers, then you will find confidence in this post because we are about to prove everyone wrong, once again.
If you're new to this series, Blogger on Blogger is my brainchild. It's my interview series that I've started to let people know that's acceptable to start your blog on the blogger platform, and whether your blog makes money or not is dependent on a hundred different factors none of which are labelled as your "blogging platform".
In this interview, Brenda, a full-time blogger will share why the blogger platform works for her and might work for you too, there's no need to be afraid of the platform.
Q.
Is your blog hosted on the blogger platform? If yes, then how long have you been blogging? And what do you blog about?
Answer:
Yes, my blog is hosted on the Blogger platform. I started this blog in April 2009. In 2012, while recovering from double ankle surgery, I decided to move my blog to Wordpress.org. I moved myself there, with the help of an eBook.
I had a lot of trouble on WP with getting hacked, etc., so after a year I moved it back to Blogger. On WP, you can simply add one too many plug-ins and your blog disappears till you figure out which one was the culprit. I had that happen a few times. And it's pretty scary when you go to your URL and it's empty!
In the interim of moving my blog back to Blogger, a technical problem with my domain host (Godaddy) caused me to lose all my posts from 2009-2013. But I didn't give up. I just started all over again. Since I post daily and sometimes twice daily, I now have quite a few posts built back up.
I had several blogs before this one, so have been blogging a total of about 9 years.
I blog about home, garden, frugal tips, my everyday life, and a little bit of everything.
Yes, my blog is hosted on the Blogger platform. I started this blog in April 2009. In 2012, while recovering from double ankle surgery, I decided to move my blog to Wordpress.org. I moved myself there, with the help of an eBook.
I had a lot of trouble on WP with getting hacked, etc., so after a year I moved it back to Blogger. On WP, you can simply add one too many plug-ins and your blog disappears till you figure out which one was the culprit. I had that happen a few times. And it's pretty scary when you go to your URL and it's empty!
In the interim of moving my blog back to Blogger, a technical problem with my domain host (Godaddy) caused me to lose all my posts from 2009-2013. But I didn't give up. I just started all over again. Since I post daily and sometimes twice daily, I now have quite a few posts built back up.
I had several blogs before this one, so have been blogging a total of about 9 years.
I blog about home, garden, frugal tips, my everyday life, and a little bit of everything.
Q.
Why did you choose blogger to be your blogging platform and do you currently earn an income from your blog? If yes, would you say it’s full-time or part-time?
Answer:
Blogger is simpler and it is free. That is the main reason I like it.
Blogger is simpler and it is free. That is the main reason I like it.
Q.
Have you worked with brands on your blog before? If yes, were they worried you’re not professional because you’re on blogger or was your blogging platform never a concern?
Answer:
Yes, I make a full-time income. I have an annuity that isn't nearly as much as I make blogging that helps out. But I work full-time and would estimate that it is a full-time income.
Yes, I make a full-time income. I have an annuity that isn't nearly as much as I make blogging that helps out. But I work full-time and would estimate that it is a full-time income.
Q.
Do you think it matters what platform you use for blogging? Or is it the content and value you give to your readers that attract them to your blog?
Answer:
My blog platform has never been an issue with brands. But for 2017 I decided not to work with brands or guest posts or anything other than what I'm doing daily. I don't think readers like sponsored-type posts, as I don't like to read them myself. So I just decided not to do any of that anymore.
My blog platform has never been an issue with brands. But for 2017 I decided not to work with brands or guest posts or anything other than what I'm doing daily. I don't think readers like sponsored-type posts, as I don't like to read them myself. So I just decided not to do any of that anymore.
Q.
According to you, what are some of the pros and cons of blogging on blogger?
Answer:
I have been on quite a few blog platforms in my time. I started out with Typepad. I then went to Wordpress.com. Then Blogger. Then Wordpress.org, and back to Blogger. I really think it is about the content, not the platform.
I have been on quite a few blog platforms in my time. I started out with Typepad. I then went to Wordpress.com. Then Blogger. Then Wordpress.org, and back to Blogger. I really think it is about the content, not the platform.
Q.
Why do you think blogger is a better blogging platform in comparison with the other blogging platforms out there?
Answer:
My main problem with Blogger is that it's hard to get help when something happens. I have had my blog URL hijacked and taken over by a blogger in Italy who was on Blogger also. I have had my blog stolen. And I've had trouble finding someone who could help me figure out what to do.
I truly believe that a company that works solely with Blogger would be quite beneficial. I think a lot more bloggers would stay on Blogger if that was the case.
Maybe a private forum of some variety would also help. Perhaps even a forum with a Blogger company that has a small monthly fee. As I rarely have gotten the Blogger forum help to respond to my questions.
My main problem with Blogger is that it's hard to get help when something happens. I have had my blog URL hijacked and taken over by a blogger in Italy who was on Blogger also. I have had my blog stolen. And I've had trouble finding someone who could help me figure out what to do.
I truly believe that a company that works solely with Blogger would be quite beneficial. I think a lot more bloggers would stay on Blogger if that was the case.
Maybe a private forum of some variety would also help. Perhaps even a forum with a Blogger company that has a small monthly fee. As I rarely have gotten the Blogger forum help to respond to my questions.
TIP : That's exactly what Balkeni Studio is about! I'm passionate about helping bloggers on blogger platform succeed, I don't want technical or support problems to deter you from having an amazing blogging experience on blogger. That's why I offer a range of services, blogger templates, branding elements, e-commerce on blogger and I offer custom services to match your needs, all you will need to do is get in touch with your custom request.
Q.
Is support, tech help, and customisability (of templates, etc.) an issue on blogger? Do you feel that your blogger blog lacks on these fronts?
Answer:
No, I use third party templates, so I can get pretty much whatever I want for a good price. I have also learned over the years and can fix or customize some things myself.
Blogger gives you lots of areas in which to customize with their platform. So that is nice. I don't have any trouble figuring out how to do something if I really want to do it.
No, I use third party templates, so I can get pretty much whatever I want for a good price. I have also learned over the years and can fix or customize some things myself.
Blogger gives you lots of areas in which to customize with their platform. So that is nice. I don't have any trouble figuring out how to do something if I really want to do it.
Q.
Is it true that you don’t own your content on a blogger blog and blogger can shut down your blog any second?
Answer:
I don't know what exactly gets a blog shut down, but that has never been a problem for me. I think you own your content just as much with Blogger as you do with Wordpress.org.
Because if you happen to not pay your hosting bill with WP, there goes your content! No hosting company is going to keep your blog online if they don't get their money on the stated date.
Blogger is its own host and therefore that isn't going to happen. Although I have heard a few cases of blogs disappearing. So I don't really see the difference.
I don't know what exactly gets a blog shut down, but that has never been a problem for me. I think you own your content just as much with Blogger as you do with Wordpress.org.
Because if you happen to not pay your hosting bill with WP, there goes your content! No hosting company is going to keep your blog online if they don't get their money on the stated date.
Blogger is its own host and therefore that isn't going to happen. Although I have heard a few cases of blogs disappearing. So I don't really see the difference.
Q.
Do you think you one can’t effectively monetise a blogger blog? Is it hard to monetise a blog that’s on blogger?
Answer:
I personally have never had a problem making money on Blogger.
I personally have never had a problem making money on Blogger.
Q.
Blogger is a very limited platform, once your blog grows, you’re going to have to shift to some other platform. Do you agree with this statement? If yes/no then please give your reasons as well.
Answer:
Not true. Blogger is not limited at all. It has no limits.
Not true. Blogger is not limited at all. It has no limits.
Q.
Any advice for those that are just starting out their journey on the blogger platform as a new blogger?
Answer:
I really think that when people on WP tell you that you can't do this or can't do that in terms of growing your blog on Blogger, it is a complete falsehood.
I don't see Blogger as limited. Instead I think the blogger might be limited in their abilities. Because if you reach out to others and do some research, you can do the same things on Blogger that you can do anywhere else. It just might take digging a little bit more.
But I've never minded digging!
I really think that when people on WP tell you that you can't do this or can't do that in terms of growing your blog on Blogger, it is a complete falsehood.
I don't see Blogger as limited. Instead I think the blogger might be limited in their abilities. Because if you reach out to others and do some research, you can do the same things on Blogger that you can do anywhere else. It just might take digging a little bit more.
But I've never minded digging!
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