CHECK YOUR LOADING BLOG

If a web page takes too long a time to load, the readers will simply hop on to another site. Making it load quickly also saves the dial-up internet users' money and time.

While it is true that the download time depends on the readers' internet connection speed, we can as Blog owners tweak our layout and source code to speed up the page download.There are online tools that you can use to check the download time of your Blog.

We used this Website Speed Test to check the load time of our 3 Blogs. You can enter a maximum of 10 web addresses. It will show you the page size, load time, and average speed per KB. This is what we got:

Generally, it is best to keep the load time to under 2 seconds, but anything up to 8 seconds is acceptable. These results are therefore satisfactory and our efforts in minimizing the load time have paid off.

Although it looks good on record, there were still times when our page took longer than it should to load. As we shall explain, some of these factors are beyond our control.

Source: http://tips-for-new-bloggers.blogspot.com/

READ MORE - CHECK YOUR LOADING BLOG

IMAGE BANNER LINK TO YOUR BLOGGER HEADER

This guide is about adding an image or picture to your Blogger Header to replace the Header Title, and to add a unique personal touch to your Blog.

At the same time, we would like to have a clickable Blogger Header so that anybody clicking on it will be brought directly to your Blog's home page.

For purposes of search engine optimization (SEO), we would include a text in the code so that the title of your Blog can still be read by search engine spiders despite your removing the Header text.

Next, you will have to enable additional Page Elements to your Header section. When you log in to your dashboard, and go to Template -> Page Elements, you should see an option for you to add a Page Element above your Header.Add picture without link to Home pageThis is simple.

If all you want is to have an additional picture or image above or below your Header text, click the “Add a Page Element” link and select “Picture” to upload the image from your computer. Save and refresh.

Add picture with link to Home pageInstead of uploading the picture, you will need to create a link. To do this, you need to have the picture uploaded somewhere. You can read about using free hosts like Google Page Creator and Google Groups.

Take note of the picture URL.Now that you have the picture URL, click “Add a Page Element” in your Header section and this time, choose “HTML/JavaScript”. The HTML code is as shown below:



Source: http://tips-for-new-bloggers.blogspot.com/

READ MORE - IMAGE BANNER LINK TO YOUR BLOGGER HEADER

ADSENSE OPTIMIZATION

1. Format is important for multiple ad unitsPlacing a skyscraper above the fold on the left side of your forum seems to produce slightly better performance than other positioning.

However, when using multiple ad units throughout the page our horizontal bias still favors the leaderboard. See the Forum Heat Map below for more details.

2. Display your ad units where repeat users will notice themA leaderboard at the very top fits nicely next to the logo, but forum regulars tend to skip the header and go straight to the meat of the thread. Placing your ad unit above or below the first post can be more effective.

3. Place a leaderboard immediately after the last postThis provides users who make it to the end of a thread with a ‘next step’ when the content ends. If you place it after the footer, though, folks will move to the next thread before they even see the ad!

4. Use horizontal link units Link units offer a wider range of relevant topics for users to browse. A horizontal unit can be placed near the top of your forum just below the header.

5. Opt-in to image ads Supporting image ads increases the pool of ads –particularly cost-per-thousand-impression (CPM) ads – bidding to display on your site. Since forums tend to have lower click-through rates (CTRs) than other types of sites, CPM ads can improve revenue without the need for clicks. Please remember, however, that CPM ads come in both text and image formats.

6. Be sensitive to your forum communityForums are highly interactive, so be sensitive to your users when implementing your AdSense ads. Be sure to blend the ads nicely, so they don’t appear overly intrusive – but don’t blend them so well they mislead your users! Every forum site is different and you know your community best, so as always use your own judgment to create the most positive experience for your users.

Source: http://adsense.blogspot.com

READ MORE - ADSENSE OPTIMIZATION

HOW DO I MAKE MONEY WITH SPONSORED BLOGGING WEBSITES?

This list will be updated regularly and more paid blogging websites will be added in the future. Hopefully this will help all of you to make more money from your blogs.

1. PayPerPost

The largest sponsored blogging network, Payperpost offers the greatest amount of offers and has a vibrant community of bloggers who support each other through a forum. If you only want to sign up for one paid blogging network, I would highly recommend using PayPerPost above all the others.
The addition of PayperPost Direct and existing affiliate programs will extend your income potential outside of the basic marketplace structure utilized by most other networks.

2. ReviewMe

ReviewMe is basically some sort of a blog marketplace where advertisers can visit to order reviews from blogs. Some of the more ‘high-end’ or popular blogs are registered with ReviewMe and the earnings are substantially higher if your blog is well established and has a large audience. This is measured by your feed subscription base as well as the Technorati and Alexa Rank.

Bigger blogs tend to earn upwards of $100 to 700+ for each single blog post and there are a lot less restrictions and rules than Payperpost. The downside for ReviewMe is that they take a hefty 50% commission for their services, which in my opinion is too large.

3. SponsoredReview

SponsoredReview is a blog network that is somewhat similar to ReviewMe but they offer a little more functionality by allowing you to negotiate fees with the advertiser and bid for an advertiser’s offers.

SponsoredReview takes 35% commission for their services and you’ll earn anything from $10 to 500+ for each review. Their user interface is one of the better ones out there and the only drawback to their service is the lack of advertisers.

4. Blogsvertise

Blogsvertise doesn’t have a marketplace so you can’t browse advertiser offers to select what you would like to write about. The site admins will match advertiser offers to your blog profile and you can choose to accept or reject the offers you see.

Generally, the assignments are sporadic and you’ll receive one or two of them every week if you’re lucky. They do however pay on time so that’s one of the benefits of working with Blogsvertise.

5. Blogitive

Blogitive will pay all bloggers a flat rate of US $5 per advertiser offer, regardless of the size or popularity of the blog. One of the earliest blog networks on the scene, Blogitive seems to be gotten into a slump a few months after their launch.

They’ve recently revamped their user interface and one of the much touted Blogitive advantages is that they pay weekly via Paypal. Blogitive has a very poor collection of advertisers and that’s something that they definitely need to improve.

6. LoudLaunch

LoudLaunch is a medium sized paid blogging network which features a moderate amount of advertiser offers. Your blogs need to be more than 2 months old and payment is only made via Paypal. Like Payperpost, the blogger usually needs to append a disclosure badge, tracker tag or logo or the bottom of posts.
The user interface doesn’t appeal to me and like other networks like Blogsvertise, the range of advertisers seem to be rather limited.

7. BloggerWave

Based on Norway, BloggerWave’s rates for paid posts are generally around $10 for a single post. There doesn’t seem to be many restrictions and you’ll get paid via Paypal. BloggerWave has been late on payment for many bloggers and some bloggers have gone so far to suggest that they are a scam.

Apparently, they seem to have made good on their payments recently and hopefully things should go smoothly from now on for bloggers using BloggerWave.

8. Smorty

Smorty rates for sponsored blog posts is $6 per post although this might increase if you have a high traffic or popular blog. Post approvals are generally made within a week and payment is made on a weekly basis through Paypal. There isn’t a lot of advertisers using Smorty at the moment though that might change in the future.

9. PayU2Blog

PayU2Blog started a few months ago and do seem to be a work in progress. There is no actual marketplace which allows you to browse for advertiser offers and they do seem to function very much like Blogsvertise in that that’ll determine the type of assignments you will receive. Payment is made every two weeks via Paypal.

10. Blogging Ads

Blogging Ads started early and recently relaunched with a new look. It’s nothing too different from Blogitive, however do note that you can only put up 10 posts per month on all your blogs and the rate for each post is usually $5. Payment is made weekly via Paypal. Blogging Ads doesn’t have a lot of advertiser offers as well.

11. Creamaid

CreamAid is a get paid to blog program with a twist. All bloggers of an option of displaying a widget which allows them to earn referral commission whenever another blogger picks up an offer from it.

CreamAid is more fun than the other get paid to blog websites although I think their monetary potential is weakest. Don’t expect to earn more than $5 for most offers you come across.

12. V7N Contextual

V7N Contextual is not technically a get paid to blog network because most of the time you won’t have to write a blog post. All you’ll have to do is to transform any specific keyword (eg. golf clubs) in your blog posts into a link to the advertiser’s website. All bloggers will earn $10 per link, regardless of their blog size and reach.

An important point to note is that you’ll have to sign a non-disclosure agreement, which means that you can’t disclose that it was a sponsored link. I have blogs in the V7N program and have not received many offers before. Don’t count on getting too many assignments.

13. LinkWorth

LinkWorth is a search engine marketing company that offers a variety of monetization options for bloggers. For instance, bloggers can sell contextual links within posts or write sponsored posts on specific topics.

Other interesting methods include rotating ads, in content ppc advertising as well as packaged link ads. LinkWorth gives up to 70% of the revenue for its ads and payments are made monthly through Paypal, check, direct deposit or Wire.

14. BlogtoProfit

BlogtoProfit allows you to get paid to write blog posts about each sponsor’s products/websites. This company doesn’t have a user interface or dashboard and there is no marketplace which allows you to pick or choose the offers you want. I’ve tried submitting some blogs to them before but have never gotten response from them at all. It is possible that they are not active anymore.

15. LinkyLoveArmy

LinkyLoveArmy appears to be a get paid to blog network but their website doesn’t make what they do very clear. The design is fairly cluttered and there’s no apparent FAQ or guide for bloggers who want to sign up. This appears to be a fairly small DIY setup so I wouldn’t expect too many advertiser offers from the onset.

16. InBlogAds

InBlogAds is a hybrid network that allows you to sell text links as well as blog posts. InBlogAds started quite a while back but seems to have died. I’ve not seen any new offers available and I think they are definitely outclassed by all the other get paid to blog networks.

Although they were one of the first to integrate an advertiser and publisher account within the same dashboard, they’ve definitely fallen behind and dropped out of the race for bloggers and advertisers.

17. Dewitts Media

Dewitt Media is a search marketing and website design company that’s recently launched a contextual links program. Blogs need to have a minimum Google Page Rank of 3 before they will be accepted. Rates are set at $10 per post.Like V7N, Dewitt Media requires you to sign a NDA or Non Disclosure agreement, which forbids you from disclosing that any specific link or blog post was sponsored. There is currently no marketplace with advertiser offers though a forum might be forthcoming.

Source: http://www.doshdosh.com/

READ MORE - HOW DO I MAKE MONEY WITH SPONSORED BLOGGING WEBSITES?

HOW TO REDIRECT BLOG TRAFFIC FROM ONE URL TO ANOTHER

Suppose you have a blog(abc.blogspot.com) which have some decent amount of traffic and you are not going to use that blog anymore(if it is banned from placing ads due to some reasons by some affiliate programmes like adsense,adbrite,etc).

But,you don't want to waste that traffic.So, with this redirection process, the old blog visitors will be redirected automatically to your new blog address or your own domain name if you have registered it(something like abc.com) so,your traffic won't be waste.

So, how to do this?If you are using a NEW BLOGGER TEMPLATE, do this:

1.Sign into your blogger dashboard.
2.Click on the layout link>Edit html
3.Copy the below html code and Paste it anywhere between the head tags.[look at the below screenshot]

Don't forget to replace the newblogaddress in the code with your destination url(address)

4.SAVE THE CHANGES.

If you are using a CLASSIC BLOGGER TEMPLATE.

Follow this:

1.Sign in to your blogger dashboard

2.Click on the template link next to your blog name.
3.Copy the below code and paste it below the head tag as shown below:

Don't forget to replace the newblogaddress in the code with your destination url(address)

4.SAVE THE CHANGES. That's it!

Now, all your old blog traffic will be redirected to your new address.

Source: http://blogger-tricks.blogspot.com/

READ MORE - HOW TO REDIRECT BLOG TRAFFIC FROM ONE URL TO ANOTHER

SCROLLING TEXT - MARQUEE HTML CODE

This HTML term Marquee is used to create a scrolling or sliding text. The text can move across the screen horizontally or vertically at a certain speed determined by you. Note, however, that while it looks nice to have scrolling announcements, advertisements, quotations, or links, having too much animation in your Blog may distract and irritate your readers. We had earlier created a line of scrolling text in the Header of our Quotes Blog to let you have an idea what you can do for your Blog.

Also, animated tags like this are not W3C-compliant. Microsoft came up with the marquee tag and while most browsers support it, W3 did not accept it. We shall be discussing this in later articles on CSS3 and JavaScript alternatives. For this tutorial, we begin with a short explanation of what the attributes do before giving you examples of how these attributes can be applied. Marquee Attributes

behavior="scroll"

behavior="alternate"

behavior="slide"

This defines how the text will move. The default is Scroll. If the behavior is not specified, the text scrolls by moving from one end to another. Where the behavior is Alternate, the text will move back and forth. The Slide seems to have the same effect as Scroll in Firefox browser.

In Internet Explorer, the text under Slide may move to one end and stop.
direction="left"direction="right"direction="up"direction="down"
The default is "left", meaning that if no direction is specified, the text will move from right to left.
loop="3"

This sets the number of times the marquee will scroll. For example, in Internet Explorer, if the number is 3, the text will scroll 3 times and stop. This command might be ignored by Firefox and the text continues to scroll. For both browsers, if no value is specified or if this attribute is omitted, the marquee will scroll or loop continuously.

scrollamount="1"

This is the amount of scrolling (in pixels). If the number is 1, the text moves by 1 pixel each time and therefore scrolls at a slow pace. If this attribute is not stated, the default value is 6. The higher the number, the faster the text scrolls.

scrolldelay="100"

This is used to set the interval between each scroll movement in milliseconds. The default value is 85. Here, the higher the value, the slower the text scrolls. A value that is smaller than 60 would be ignored and replaced by the value 60. In Internet Explorer, if you really want the text to zoom at lightning speed, you can set a small delay like 20 and specify the truespeed attribute as true (see below).

truespeed="true"truespeed="false"

This tells the browser whether or not to stick to the scrolldelay values lower than 60 that you have set. The default value is false and the browser will ignore values less than 60. Set it as true if you want the browser to adhere to the low scrolldelay value and have the text scroll very fast.
bgcolor: rgb(255,0,0)">#XXXXXX"

Should you want a background color for the scrolling text, you can specify the color code into #XXXXXX. You may refer to the HTML Color Code Chart for the color codes.
height="50px"height="80%"

You can specify the height of the marquee box in pixels or percentage value. The default value is the height of the contained text.

width="200px"width="80%"

Similarly, you can set the width of the marquee box in pixels or percentage value. The default width is the width of the frame that the marquee appears in.
vspace="20px"vspace="80%"

In Internet Explorer, you can set the top and bottom margins outside the scrolling text by stating a vspace (vertical space) margin in pixels or percentage value.
hspace="20px"hspace="80%"

You can also set the left and right margins outside the scrolling text by stating a hspace (horizontal space) margin either in pixels or percentage value.Where to place the marquee codeYou can place the scrolling text either in your Header, Footer, Sidebar, or blog post.

To have it above or below the Header or Blog Posts, see that you are able to Add Page Element in the Header and Post Body.Go to Template -> Page Elements -> Add a Page Element, select HTML/JavaScript to add the marquee code.If you want the text to be in your Posts, just like what you see in this post, see that you are in the “Edit HTML” mode and not “Compose” mode when you add the marquee code.Marquee HTML CodeThe basic code to add is this:

-Example 1
Text scrolls from right to left by default.

Notice that by default, the text scrolls from right to left, and it loops continuously. You can of course change the background color by specifying the Hexadecimal color code under bgcolor.Further Examples of the Marquee code, applying the attributes discussed above:-

- Example 2
Bouncing text using the alternate behavior.

Here, the text bounces from one side to the other and the width of the text box has been reduced to 80%.

- Example 3

Text scrolls upwards.For the text to appear in the next line, add this tag

after the previous line.

The scrolldelay has been set at 150. Increase this value if you want a slower speed.

Example 4

Text scrolls downwards.

For the text to appear in the next line, add this tag

after the previous line.

In this example, we use scrollamount to control the speed. The higher the value, the faster the speed. In Internet Explorer, you will see the left and right margins set under hspace.Change Font style and Color of textNotice in the above examples that the text is black. If you want a different color or style for your text, you can set the style of the text before the marquee code.

Here are some examples:

-Example 5

Text scrolls from left to right.

What we have done here is to specify a color for the text. You can look up the Color Code Chart for more colors.

-Example 6

Text scrolls from left to right.

You can set the font-family for the text. It can be a generic font like cursive, serif, monospace, fantasy and so on. It can also be a specific font family like times, arial, courier, verdana, etc. You can state the font-size as xx-small, x-small, small, smaller, xx-large, x-large, large, larger, or a percentage value.Update:Pause/Stop and Start a ScrollReaders have asked whether the scrolling text can be paused when a visitor moves his mouse cursor over the text.

This is useful when he wants to read the text or click a link with the text. To start and start a marquee, the additional arguments used are the "onmouseover" and "onmouseout" events to add a simple JavaScript. It will pause the scrolling text when the mouse is over it and resume the scroll when the mouse leaves the text.

- Example 7

Text scroll pauses when the mouse hovers over it and starts again when the mouse is moved out of the text.

Scrolling Link ListIf you are interested in having a Scrolling Link List, we have explained how you can do it in our article on Numbered List and Bulleted List.

Source: tips-for-new-bloggers.blogspot.com

READ MORE - SCROLLING TEXT - MARQUEE HTML CODE

ADD IMAGES OR ICONS TO SIDEBAR LINKS

Sidebars are sometimes crowded with lots of text.

There are many ways to make some of the items stand out. In my case, I decided that I will add icons next to the links, to differentiate links from normal text. I will also draw a thin line after each link.

To be consistent, the color of these lines shall be the border color.Note: This is the style we used for our Minima template. Since each type of template has its unique margin, padding and style settings, this guide may not apply to these other templates. You can try to adapt this to your template.

Preview the change, and adjust the margins and paddings. Often, a bit of experiment with these values will do the trick. If they still don't look satisfactory, do not save the template.First, scout around for a picture that you would like to use.

In this site, I have used an arrow image. You can use any photo editing software to reduce the image size to about 9px x 9px; I used Google's Photo Editing Software Picasa.After having an image, upload it onto a free server. You can read about using free hosts like Google Page Creator and Google Groups.

We also have a rather comprehensive list of free Image Hosts and File Hosting Services in our article on Manage Blogger Image Storage Space. Check out those sites and choose one that is fast, reliable and enables hotlinking to the uploaded files. Take note of the URL of the Image file.Go back to “Template” tab and click “Edit HTML”. Scroll to look for the following lines:-
.sidebar ul {list-style:none;margin:0 0 0;padding:0 0 0;}.sidebar li {margin:0;padding:0 0 .25em 15px;text-indent:-15px;line-height:1.5em;}

Replace them with this:-
.sidebar ul {list-style:none;margin:0 0 1.25em;padding:0 0px;}.sidebar ul li {background:url("URL OF IMAGE FILE") no-repeat 2px .25em;margin:0;padding:0 0 3px 16px;margin-bottom:3px;border-bottom:1px dotted $bordercolor;line-height:1.4em;}

Remember to insert the URL OF IMAGE FILE into the code.If you don't want the line at the bottom of every item, delete the border-bottom code (shown in green) or change the value to 0px.Preview to see if you like the layout. If it is fine with you, Save the Template

Sources: tips-for-new-bloggers.blogspot.com

READ MORE - ADD IMAGES OR ICONS TO SIDEBAR LINKS

HOW TO GET FREE PAYPAL!

If you still do not have PayPal account, you can get it free of charge. Just follow this simple step:

1. Register to a free account A.W.SURVEY or just click here. You will be paid for every survey that you have followed. Very simple and just need less then 10 menits to give short comments the appearance of some websites. You will get your USD $26!

2. Afterward you go to PayPal or simply click here. Remember: you do not have to input your credit card number when it is asked. Press the cancel button cause you just need PayPal account to receive money from A.W.SURVEY.

3. Perform referral procedure until you get enough money to be transferred from A.W.SURVEY to your PayPal account. That’s it!

READ MORE - HOW TO GET FREE PAYPAL!