Free Top Blogger Tips

Add Google Analytics to a Blogger Blog

2012-06-11T23:17:00.001-07:00

If you are new to blogging at Blogger.com you might not be aware that tracking and statistics software can be linked to your site to give you details about your visitors. The process of adding a free tracking program such as Google Analytics is relatively straightforward. By following the simple steps below you will gain access to very useful data about the kind of traffic accessing your site. This will help you grow your site and target your content to meet the needs of your visitors.

Steps to Add Google Analytics to Your Blogger Blog

1. Login to Google Analytics
Login to Google Analytics at http://google.com/analytics with your Blogger.com login. If for some reason you wish to create a new account you can do so but be aware that you will lose the advantages of accessing other Google services such as Google Webmaster Tools and Google Adsense without having to log out.

2. Sign Up to Google Analytics
Click on the Sign Up button and you will be taken to the Analytics - New Account Signup page. Enter your blog URL, account name, country, and time zone on this page.

URL
The URL of this blog is freetopbloggertips.blogspot.com

You would enter nameofyourblog.blogspot.com

Account Name
It is a good idea to choose a general name such as Mike's Account because this will be the account name for anything from 1 to 100 websites.

Click on Continue.

In the next screen you will be prompted to enter your personal details: your name, phone number and country. Complete these and click on Continue.

The final sign up page is the Terms of Agreement screen. Once you agree to these your sign up is complete.

3. Copy the Code Block
After completing the signup process Google Analytics provides you with a code block of javascript to be added to your site.

To copy the code highlight the code block and use the command Ctrl + C to quickly copy the code to the clipboard of your computer. Leave the window open as you are going to return there.

4. Login to Blogger.com at http://www.blogger.com/
In a new window login to your site at Blogger.com and navigate from the Dashboard to the Layout tab.

5. Navigate to Edit HTML in the Layout Menu
From the Layout menu select the Edit HTML link (third from the left after Page Elements and Font and Colors). You are going to be adding a little bit of code to your template so care needs to be taken here not to overwrite any existing code. As a precaution it is advisable to backup your template at this point. You will see the option to do so.

6. Add Code Block to Your Blogger Template
To add the code block to your template you will need to locate the code that closes the body tag. This will be very near the bottom of the template. You will need to paste the code block immediately before the tag.

To paste the code block position the cursor in front of the tag and use the command Ctrl + V. Once the code is placed in your template and you are sure it is positioned correctly click on Save Template. All going well you have now successfully added Google Analytics to your Blogger blog.

7. Return to Google Analytics
Go back to the Google Analytics window. On the Overview page you will see details about your blog such as Reports, Status, Visits etc. If there is a tick in the status column your Analytics code is working correctly. The screen should look something like the one pictured below.

If the Status contains a yellow triangle symbol with an exclamation mark inside don't despair it just means that Google has not yet updated details of your site. Check back in 24 hours as it can take Google sometime from installing the code to actually providing reports.

Once Google Analytics is successfully receiving data about your site you can begin to make use of the wealth of information at your fingertips.

8. Troubleshooting
If after a day the status still displays a yellow triangle you may need to troubleshoot. A yellow triangle is displayed when the code is not detected or not verified.

Check your Blogger template to ensure the code block is pasted in the correct position.

Further help:
You will find excellent help from Google Analytics at http://www.google.com/support/analytics/.

For details about why Google Analytics is not able to track your site check out
http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en_US&answer=57053&utm_id=ad

Add Twitter Badge Button to Blogger

2012-06-11T22:30:00.000-07:00

In this tutorial you will learn how to add a Twitter badge aka Twitter button to your Blogger Blogspot blog to link your blog to your Twitter account. By adding a Twitter button you will give your readers the option to follow your blog on Twitter.

Display a Twitter Icon in the Sidebar of Your Blogger Blog
If you look at the top of the right sidebar you will notice that I have placed a Twitter icon with a link to my Twitter profile. Adding the Twitter badge and link is not difficult and requires no change to the template. We will simply be adding a gadget to the sidebar. I have assumed no knowledge of Blogger and widgets so that absolute Blogger beginners can follow this tutorial.

1. Login to Blogger if not already logged in

2. Navigate to Layout > Page Elements

3. Click on Add a Gadget in the sidebar or other location eg the footer if you prefer

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

5. Paste the following code into the content box depending on your choice of button:

<a href="http://twitter.com/Your Profile"><img width="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOxI-Yu02JnD5z6hgwBGjCHEnVz1HM6RRDy2pKurolKCrX6RweYUvXOM-7nKsmBKNgjE8Nh1-uW9JaploGGB7uiukOk23uziVNihoyWMPmrIJig1kDt7y1OW68AW6p1RUxVQmkZPagw6M/s200/twitter-bar.gif" height="34" title="Follow Your Blog Name on Twitter"/></a><br/>

<a href="http://twitter.com/Your Profile"><img width="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO5HqKEkDrq4qWIsHfdM_wb8hvnmSvXOwxArly8axqPHBeokYN0vYbFvNyKyDFEHJyVo-U8I6VkgQ65A8CLbsyJk68cmkJ1ieLYknzoSWcmcrkP4DqU_2VNZvbriKasy0S0yn9CyL9zq4/s200/twitter-35a.png" height="42" title="Follow Your Blog Name on Twitter"/></a><br/>

<a href="http://twitter.com/Your Profile"><img width="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEineZfGCXzhKcLJ1JAYiiFkwb5V2ObJt-0esakGPPFmtgScDcwzplu7uiShk0Wjr2Ea-Wv__vhH-pU7slPHQf176wg3EIxDOqMcaOMdlacCISxs34BK69uyl0afNHzRPbSGGYL7c2Yjgww/s200/twitter-32a.png" height="58" title="Follow Your Blog Name on Twitter"/></a><br/>

6. Change Your Profile to your own Twitter profile. For example:

http://twitter.com/YourProfile

to

http://twitter.com/topbloggertips

7. Substitute your blog name in the title for your own blog name

title="Follow Your Blog Name on Twitter"

to

title="Follow top blogger tips on Twitter"

8. Click on Save.

9. Move your new Twitter widget to the desired location on your sidebar using drap and drop

10. Click on View Blog to admire your new Twitter button

In this tutorial you have learned how to add a Twitter button, badge, icon to your Blogger Blogspot blog so that readers can sign up to follow you on Twitter. I have supplied you with a choice of three different buttons to get you started. For more Twitter buttons try these free Twitter vector icons or these free Twitter graphics or just type Twitter icons into your favorite search engine

Make yourself visible in your google search

2012-06-08T04:59:00.001-07:00

Make yourself visible in your job search
If you google your name, what links come up? Having no online presence is almost as damaging to your credibility as having an embarrassingly unprofessional one

LinkedIn is one of the first social networks to be officially supported by Twitter Photograph: Public Domain

Make it easy for recruiters and employers to find you — not just so you appear in keyword searches — but also so they can check out your credentials.

LinkedIn is the biggest professional networking site, used increasingly by recruiters to scout talent. LinkedIn profiles generally come up first in a google search for your name, so make sure your LinkedIn url contains your name, rather than default numbers.

Twitter also allows you to build a network of contacts, to take part in discussions, and to be visible in a community of industry professionals. A Twitter profile comes up high in google searches, and Google has just announced that results from social networking sites will be prominently displayed in its search pages. This means your twitter updates will become more visible in google searches for your name.

Two new features have made both LinkedIn and Twitter much more powerful for job seekers.

Automatic LinkedIn updates

You can now update your LinkedIn profile via your Twitter account. (Go to the edit profile settings on LinkedIn, then add your Twitter username.) If you've tweeted something of interest (new blog post, a particularly apt comment on a forum, or a link to a useful article) you can use your tweet to update your LinkedIn status, keeping it fresh and newsworthy with no real effort required. You can choose whether to have all your tweets show up in your LinkedIn profile, or only those where you add the hashtag #in at the end of your tweet. This feature also means your online image is more consistent, with the same information displayed on both networks.

Twitter lists

You can create lists of the people you follow on Twitter. Categorise people into separate lists, such as recruiters, companies, job boards for example, or according to industry, such as IT or design, to make it easier and quicker to follow the flow of all the different conversations. This is especially useful if you follow a large number of people, but don't have the time to keep track of them all. Using lists means you can filter out everyone else's tweets, and just home in on a limited number at a time.

You can also follow other people's lists, rather than creating your own, but although this gives you a certain degree of privacy (your identity as a list-follower isn't visible to those on the list) it also means you don't have the chance to build a direct rapport with the person/company you're following.

Maintain your visibility

Use LinkedIn and Twitter to get to know recruiters and company managers. Build and develop contacts, not just for immediate vacancies, but for future opportunities.

Pass on useful information or contacts to recruiters (such as the names of potential new clients, or candidates), reply occasionally to their tweets, or retweet their links, blog posts for example.

Develop a strong professional image with people working in your target companies. Comment on blog posts, in work-related forums, and on Twitter. Don't just focus on top managers, but get to know people lower down the company hierarchy who may be influential in suggesting names for new company projects or roles to be filled. Getting to know people before vacancies arise may mean your name comes up as a potential — saving the company time and money in recruitment or hiring costs.

Posted By: Clare Whitmell