Showing posts with label blogging tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging tips. Show all posts

Add HTML TextArea Tag for Affiliate Codes in Wordpress


Many bloggers out there launch their own products and also run affiliate sales for which someone can earn commissions if they are able to sell the owners product.

Now if you're the owner of such product or e-book or whatever may be and you need create an affiliate code and you need others to copy-paste that code easily. The easier it is to copy-paste the code the more promoters you will find for your product.

Recently, I helped out a very close friend of mine with something like this - Garen Arnold of Blog Setup Guide. He has created an ebook called the Killer Komodo Dragon Backlink Guide which helps you to SEO your posts to increase the rankings of your individual posts.

He is also allowing others to promote his e-book. When a promoter makes a sale, he gets 50% commission of the price of the book. I had to help him out with his JVZoo Affiliate Code. He needed a system using which anyone could copy and paste the code on their blog to promote his book.

He was already using the Snippet Plugin. But it had some problem. It was stretching his landing page completely out of proportion. So, I had to use the HTML Textarea tag along with the onfocus feature so that whenever someone clicks inside the textarea , then the whole post would get selected.

killer-komodo-468x68

Now, I'm posting the code here that I used on the Garen's page itself.

The output would look like this :



The onfocus feature can really help as the users don't have to select the whole code as it gets highlighted automatically once you click inside the text.

If you want to check out the page I have worked on, here's the link.

If you have any problems , just drop off a comment and I will take a look.

5 Things To Do When You Don't Love Blogging Anymore

You have been blogging for a few months or maybe a year now but you haven't been able to achieve your goals which you set out to achieve. Whenever you try to write a new post, you feel lethargic and disappointment creeps up in your head.

You ask yourself what's the point if no one's going to read it. You haven't been able to attract visitors or make some money.

If you have this kind of thought in your mind, you're not alone. These things come in everyone's blogging career.

Well, here are some list of things that I did in order to regain my love for blogging.

1. Take a Break

Taking a break from the thing you love is sometimes better for you. When you are away from the thing that you love, you really understand it's importance and your need for it. 

How long the break should be will vary from individuals to individuals.

During your break, you yourself will understand whether you love blogging or not. If you miss it, you will come back to it or leave it completely.

2. Start a New Blog

This might seem unusual. But sometimes, we start to hate blogging because we are not satisfied with our current blog. Maybe the niche is no longer is right for you. You start with one niche and then fell in love with another niche.

Well you can always have multiple niche on your blog. No one's saying you can't. But if it gives you more satisfaction, if you create a new blog with your new found love, then you should go for it.

Don't keep in mind the page rank and the backlinks of your old blog while going for a new blog. If you're thinking about all the hard work that you did to get backlinks and pagerank, then stop thinking about it now.

 If you love the niche you blog about, you would gain them more quickly the second time around.

3. Start Guest Posting

If you're unhappy with the little amount of visitors on your blog, then you can always start guest posting. The reality is that, you may write superb content but no one knows about you.

Start getting out more. Expose yourself with other blog authors. Ask other blog authors in your niche whether they are interested in accepting guest post from you.

If you're approach is genuine and if you can write a decent article, then no one's going to reject your post.

4. Asking for Help

Asking for help is always smarter than giving up something. Sometimes people tend not to ask for help because of their huge egos.


Ask other blog authors for tips that you can use to get back your blog on the right track. Almost all bloggers face this similar kind of situation.

Chances are they will even let you in one of of their secrets that no one knows about.

Again, if your approach is genuine, no one will reject your plea.

5. Install CommentLuv

Commentluv is a great way to increase your interaction on your blog. People tend to avoid crappy commenting system like the default blogger one. It is totally useless.

If you're on wordpress , there is the commentluv plugin ( both free and premium ). If you're on Blogger, you could use commentluv with Intensedebate system.

Recently, I modified the Intensedebate System to show the commentluv heart beside the comments just like in Wordpress blogs. You can read the full story here.

Conclusion

If you really love blogging, don't just give up on it because you're not getting the traffic. These things take time. When you have feelings like this, try experimenting in new ways.

Try something new every week. If you start guest posting, you will receive more traffic eventually. Writing a guest post doesn't mean that you will receive thousands of traffic overnight. It takes time. So stick to it.
If none of the above tips work for you, you could always sell your blog on Flippa and make some decent money from it. I know one of my blogger friend sold a two year old blog on Flippa for $800.
Do you have any other tips in mind ? You can add it to my list in the comment section.
Also, don't forget to share your views with us about the points I have mentioned.

Wishing all a Happy New Year , 2013.

Showing CommentLuv Heart in Intensedebate Comments

Since I use Blogger and I always wanted to use CommentLuv, so I decided to use CommentLuv using the IntenseDebate commenting system. 

It's pretty good actually and it has increased the amount of comments on my blog.

The only bad thing about this is it's default commenting form is not very good looking. So, about couple of months ago, I changed some of it's design using the Custom CSS option on the Intense debate panel. And it turned out to be quite good looking.

If you don't know where the Custom CSS option, take a look at the image below.

commentluv-intensedebate

Here's the code I used for the last couple of months.

#idc-container-parent #idc-container {
background:#ffffff;
}
#idc-container-parent #idc-container {
padding-left: 15px;
padding-right: 15px;
padding-top: 10px;
padding-bottom: 10px;
width: auto;
}
#idc-container-parent #idc-container,
#idc-container-parent #idc-container div {
font-size:15px;
font-family: DejaVu Sans Condensed;
}
#idc-container-parent #idc-container a {
color: #C91402;
}
#idc-container-parent #idc-container a:hover {
color: #C91402;
}
#idc-container-parent #idc-container h3 {
color: #000000;
}
#idc-container-parent #idc-container .idc-new {
background-color: #ffffff;
padding: 20px 20px;
width: auto;
}
#idc-container-parent #idc-container .idc-c.idc-admin {
border: 2px #9c3;
}
#idc-container-parent #idc-container .idc-c-h .idc-a {
border: 1px solid #CCC !important;
}
.idc-postnav-label { display: none !important; }
.idc-postnav-list { display: none !important; }
.idc-foot { display: none !important; }
#idc-container div.idc-text_noresize, #idc-container textarea.idc-text_noresize {height: 100px !important;}/*Pad and prepare new comment and reply comment boxes */
#IDCommentsNewThread {position: relative !important;padding-top: 80px !important;}
#IDCommentReplyForm1{position: relative !important;padding-top: 80px !important;}
#IDCommentReplyDiv{position: relative !important} /*Prepare reply comment for positioning */
#IDCommentReplyForm2{position: absolute !important; top: 31px !important; left: 115px !important;}
#IDCommentNewThreadForm2 {position: absolute !important; top: 7px !important; left: 95px !important;width: 100% !important;}

Note : This code that I used doesn't have the Commentluv heart on the comments.
So, a few days ago, I decided to try to see if I can implement the  commentluv-heart  just beside the comments like we see on wordpress blogs.

Well, after 4 hours of hard work and some intense experimentation with CSS I finally managed to do it. I don't even know why I'm giving away this tip ( I should be taking money for this, :p ).  

Here's how it will look.

 
Ok, here's the code.

Now, if you want to make your commenting system look exactly as mine then, you can use my code. 

#idc-container-parent #idc-container {
background: #ffffff;
}
#idc-container-parent #idc-container {
padding-left: 15px;
padding-right: 15px;
padding-top: 10px;
padding-bottom: 10px;
width: auto;
}
#idc-container-parent #idc-container,
#idc-container-parent #idc-container div {
font-size:15px;
font-family: DejaVu Sans Condensed;
}
#idc-container-parent #idc-container a[target='_blank']:after  {
display:inline;
content:"   " url(http://blogtipscodes.googlecode.com/files/littleheart.gif);
}
#idc-container-parent #idc-container a[target='_blank'] {
color: #C91402;
}
#idc-container-parent #idc-container a:hover {
color: #C91402;
}
#idc-container-parent #idc-container h3 {
color: #000000;
}
#idc-container-parent #idc-container .idc-new {
background-color: #ffffff;
padding: 20px 20px;
width: auto;
}
#idc-container-parent #idc-container .idc-c.idc-admin {
border: 2px #9c3;
}
#idc-container-parent #idc-container .idc-c-h .idc-a {
border: 1px solid #CCC !important;
}
.idc-postnav-label { display: none !important; }
.idc-postnav-list { display: none !important; }
.idc-foot { display: none !important; }
#idc-container div.idc-text_noresize, #idc-container textarea.idc-text_noresize {height: 100px !important;}/*Pad and prepare new comment and reply comment boxes */
#IDCommentsNewThread {position: relative !important;padding-top: 80px !important;}
#IDCommentReplyForm1{position: relative !important;padding-top: 80px !important;}
#IDCommentReplyDiv{position: relative !important} /*Prepare reply comment for positioning */
#IDCommentReplyForm2{position: absolute !important; top: 31px !important; left: 115px !important;}
#IDCommentNewThreadForm2 {position: absolute !important; top: 7px !important; left: 95px !important;width: 100% !important;}

This is the code I use in the custom CSS section in the Intense debate panel presently.

If you don't want to change your current settings and just want to show the Heart beside the comments and keep the rest same, then you can use only this small code in the Custom CSS section.

#idc-container-parent #idc-container a[target='_blank']:after  {
display:inline;
content:"  " url(http://blogtipscodes.googlecode.com/files/littleheart.gif);
}

If you want to see a demo of it try commenting on this post or you could check out another of mine awesome Google+ Follower Plugin post.

Having problems with this ? Just leave a comment and share your views. We would love to get your feedback on this.

4 Simple Tips to Get Ideas for Blog Post

The last week was very hectic for me. In total, I wrote 7 posts out of which 3 were guest posts on authority sites. Now that I think about it, I really ran out of ideas on what to write for my next post on my blog.
Ideas

So, for the last two days I have been trying to get some ideas. And then just today I got the idea of writing this post.

If you have been facing the same problem as me, here are the top tips on how to get ideas fro your blog posts.

1. Surfing the Internet

Surfing the internet is always a good idea to get some ideas. You never know when an idea can strike you.

Go to your favorite sites.

Check out some articles on some of the news and social media sites like mashable and techcrunch. They always have great articles to share and you might just get lucky.

2. Check out your fellow blogger's blogs

You could always check out some of your friend's blog and see what they have shared. Maybe even comment on them.

Try going through some of their old posts. Look for some posts that may interest you.

If you think you have something new to share about that old post, then go ahead. Maybe even link to your friend's old post.

That way your visitor's will know both the old version and the new version of the topic.

3. Scan through comments on other blogs

You might think this is weird. But this has actually helped me a lot of times. Visit some of the top authority sites like basicblogtips.com or comluv.com.

Try scanning through their comment section and observe what people has shared. You never know you might get an idea from there.

It also has it's advantages you know. You will also learn some of the public demand. Since they are commenting on a authority site, you will get some general idea about what the general public expects from your blog.

Try scanning blogs which has commentluv enabled on them. It will be easier for you to see the post titles.

4. Search randomly in Google

Well, if none of the above works for you then I would suggest you make a random search about anything you want. This has helped me a few times.

You never know what you may like from one of the search results. Try scanning 2-3 pages to see if you may like something from the title.

Conclusion

An idea can struck you from anywhere. So, just be prepared for it. If an idea strikes you when you're not in front of your computer , at least write down the title of that idea somewhere or save it on your mobile in draft messages. That way, you won't forget about the idea.

Do you have any more tips on how to get ideas for your blog post ? Do share it with us in the comment section.

We would love to have your feedback.

Google Introduces Data Highlighter for Events

Google has recently introduced the Data Highlighter tool in the Google Webmaster Tools. It is a simple tool through which you can customize the look in your search for events being held on your site e.g. movies, sporting events, festivals, giveaways, contests etc.
Image : Yahoo

To find this tool, go to Webmaster Tools and under Optimization, you will find Data Highlighter (below Structured Data).

This tool is meant to show the events in your site's search results and provide users with a better search experience. It has been only 4 days since it's launch and at this initial stage it is only for English. But Google has plans to make this tool compatible with more languages in the coming months.  
    
Features of the Data Highlighter Tool :

The greatest advantage of using this tool is that you don't have to change any codes in your web pages. To highlight some of the events, you simply have to drag your mouse over your writings and publish it. Piece of cake.

Take a look at the picture below.


Another great advantage of using this tool would be to you can tag similar pages with hosted events.

According to Google, if you can tag 5-10 of these similar pages, then their complex algorithms will know of the format on your site. From then on, when googlebots crawl your site they will automatically add the events in your search results for better user experience.

Here's two images of how things will look.

To monitor the crawled data, you have to use the Structured Data Dashboard on the Google Webmaster Tools.

Here's also a video of how the process works.


Do you have a site which regularly hosts events ? Start using this great tool right now.

Share your views with us in the comment section about what you think of this tool.

Social Media Subscription Plugin with Google Plus Followers

Social Media plugins are very popular and are heavily used by most of the websites/blogs. They are one powerful tool and are very helpful in increasing the traffic to your blog and building your audience on the internet.

The plugin that I'm going to share today is very simple compared to other plugins and it has the following features:
  • Facebook like box
  • Twitter follow button with count
  • Google plus followers of the authors
  • Google Plus follow button for your Google+ page
The plugin will look something like this.

Now here's the code for it.
<style type='text/css'>
#social-media{
background:#fff;
padding-top:10px;
border:1px solid #d9d9d9;
border-radius:15px;
}
</style>
<div id="social-media">
<center>
<iframe src="//www.facebook.com/plugins/likebox.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Ftechcodes&amp;width=292&amp;height=180&amp;colorscheme=light&amp;show_faces=true&amp;border_color&amp;stream=false&amp;header=false&amp;appId=414290321970908" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="background:#fff; overflow:hidden; width:292px; height:180px;" allowtransparency="true"></iframe>
<a href="https://twitter.com/LahaulSeth" class="twitter-follow-button" data-show-count="true" data-size="large">Follow @LahaulSeth</a>
<script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");</script>
<div class="g-plus" data-action="followers" data-height="300" data-href="https://plus.google.com/116408116032173037344" data-width="262" style="background:#ffffff;">
</div>
<div class="g-plus" data-href="https://plus.google.com/100743570747620795888"></div>
</center>
<font style="font-weight:bold;size:8px;font-family:DejaVu Sans Condensed;"><a href="http://www.blogtipscodes.com/2012/12/social-media-plugin-with-google-plus-followers.html">Get this plugin >></a></font>
</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(){window.___gcfg={'lang':'en'};
var po=document.createElement('script');po.type='text/javascript';
po.async=true;
po.src='https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js';
var s=document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(po,s);
})();
</script>

Now before using this code you need to change all of the urls to your own.

Find this text and the replace them with your own.

techcodes --> replace with your own facebook page username
LahaulSeth --> replace with your own twitter username
116408116032173037344 --> replace with your own google+ profile id
100743570747620795888 ---> replace with your own google+ page id

After only making this changes you can use this code on your blog.

If you are having trouble using this widget, then do not hesitate to use the comment section to share your problems.

4 Reasons for Why you should be an Established Blogger

This may sound odd. You might have come across hundreds of articles where you have seen how to become an established blogger.

Today, let's talk about something different. If you are striving to be an established blogger, don't give up. Keep trying because the Internet needs you.
 

Here are some of the reasons why the Internet needs you.

1. Internet is full of crap

Believe it or not the internet is full of crap. You may not understand it because we only look at the internet from the surface. But, the truth is that there are millions of crappy and spammy websites out there which are just trying to steal money and deprive the hard workers.

There are probably thousand times more crappy websites out there than the quality ones. Your goal should be to be in the quality ones.

Don't just create another blog for earning some quick money and then give up when you can't. I have been blogging for a year now. I only started to earn some decent money recently. For the first 6-8 months I couldn't even earn a penny.

2. Users are always searching for new information

The good thing about blogging is that the readers are always searching for new information and the authors are always providing new information on their blog. That's the life cycle of a blog. Since the internet is full of crap, it needs some good quality content.

Why the hell do you think Google goes to all this trouble to update their algorithms 500 times a year ? To protect the internet from spam. To provide relevant, high quality and useful content to it's readers. And you should join the fight.

3. People need mentors

Believe it or not, but people love to be guided by someone. It makes it easier for them. Be a mentor to others. Help out other people.


Don't just write post to satisfy yourself. Start guiding others and help them. That way, people will love you. At the end of day, you will be happy after helping out others.

4. Google needs mentors as well

John Chow recently mentioned this on one of his posts. According to him, instead of fighting Google for SEO, we should be it's guide.

He compares Google and the readers with a blind man and they are counting on the blog authors to lead the way. They are counting on the authors to support them. Here's the link if you want to read the full post.

Keep some of the points in mind when you think about quitting blogging simply because you couldn't earn money from it.  

If you can think of any more reason, don't hesitate to share your views with us in the comment section.

Review : Media.net Yahoo-Bing Contextual Advertisement

Media.net is a relatively new company in the field of contextual advertisements. In my opinion, it is one of the best alternatives to Google Adsense. I have been using their ads for almost two weeks now and I am pretty happy with the amount of money I have collected so far.

They do not have CTR (Click through Rate) like Adsense. Their calculations is based on the number of impressions on your blog. From what I have calculated, they pay $2 per 1000 impressions. Not bad.

Ad Sizes :

There are different sizes of ads which includes most of the common size ads that are used by Google Adsense.
  • 338x280 large rectangle
  • 300x250 small rectangle
  • 728x90 leaderboard
  • 160x600 skyscraper 
  • 200x200 square 
  • 180x150 rectangle
There are also some other some sizes which you have to check out by yourself.

Ad Designs :

The ads have much more color to them and they are far more attractive than the Adsense ads (my opinion, not sure about others). Also they have four or five different types of designs for each size with addition of custom settings.

It means you can simply change the color to match your blog with the custom settings if you don't like their default designs. Here's a snapshot below of ad designs.


Earning Reports :

The earning reports is similar to as that of Google Adsense. It shows a graph of the number of impressions on three basis ( weekly, monthly, yearly).

It also shows which ad has how many impressions. In other way, it shows which ad unit has earned you more money. Since you don't have the CTR facility in media.net, you have to use this report to strategically place your ad on your blog.

If you have multiple sites approved with your media.net account, then you can also see the report on a site basis which shows you which site has earned more money. It basically has an all-round reporting system which can help you earn more money than adsense if you know where to place your ads.


Payment System :

It currently has two payment systems - one is Wire Transfer and another is Paypal. I use paypal because once my account reaches a threshold limit (which I don't know as of yet, probably $100) then payment will be issued to my Paypal account and the transfer would take minutes.

I'm sure that as it develops more, it would also adapt the policy of sending checks to it's publishers like Adsense.


How to get approved for media.net ?

Media.net is still on an invite basis. So that means you have to request an invite. It takes about 2 weeks to receive a reply from them on whether you have been approved or rejected.


Overall, I think it's a pretty good alternative to Google Adsense.

So, what do you think about Media.net ? Are you willing to try it ?

Don't forget to share your views on the comment section.

Google+ Follower Plugin for Wordpress

Recently, blogger has introduced the Google+ follower widget for blogger blogs. The widget basically shows the pictures of the users in whose circle the author is in. It also features an "Add to Circles" buttons with link to the Google+ profile of the author.

With the Google Author Rank on it's way you need to have plugins like this to increase your circles which Google will consider while calculating your author rank.


What I'm going to share is how you can use this plugin for your Wordpress site. You can also check out a demo on Ian Eberle's OmegaWeb blog.Just copy and paste the following code in your sidebar.

<center><div class="g-plus" data-action="followers" data-height="300" data-href="https://plus.google.com/116408116032173037344" data-width="262" style="align:center;">
</div></center>
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(){window.___gcfg={'lang':'en'};
var po=document.createElement('script');po.type='text/javascript';
po.async=true;
po.src='https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js';
var s=document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(po,s);
})();
</script>

Also remember to change the Google+ profile id to yours.


If you have any problem, using this widget you can use the comment section. Tell us what you think about this plugin ?

SEO Title Optimization in Blogger

SEO Titles are the title that will appear in the search engines and it is very important for receiving organic traffic. The SEO titles should also contain the keywords of your blog to get more traffic.

In Wordpress, it is fairly easy to to do this. But in blogger, it is a little bit complicated. Because I don't use an image in my blogger header (only text) so, I was trying to find another way of optimizing my SEO title.


<---  Only text, no image




Here's how you can do it.

>> First go to your blogger account.

>> Go to Template --> Edit HTML.

>> Find this piece of code (this is normally the default setting in most of the custom template)

<title><data:blog.pageTitle/></title> 
<b:else/>
<title><data:blog.pageName/> ~ <data:blog.pageTitle/></title>

<data:blog.pageTitle/> is the title of your blog.
<data:blog.pageName/> is the title of your post page.

Notice that there isn't any keyword in none of these settings. In this setting your search results would look like this (an example from my search result below).

And your home page like this (below).


Now how to add those keywords ?

It's pretty simple and here's how I did it. Just check the difference between the codes. What I have done is added some keywords using a separator.

<title><data:blog.pageTitle/> | Blogging Tips, SEO, Social Media, Internet Marketing, HTML and CSS, Programming Tips</title> 
<b:else/>
<title><data:blog.pageName/> | Blogging Tips, SEO, Social Media, Internet Marketing, HTML and CSS, Programming Tips | Blog Tips Codes</title>

After you have done this changes with your own keywords save the template and check with Google Rich Snippets Tools whether it appears or not. 

Here's my changes in the images below.

Home Page :
Post pages :

Now that you have added the keywords just sit back and let Google crawl your site and you will start to see the changes in the search results in a few days.

If you have a problem with this, don't hesitate to contact me or you can leave a comment.

9 Effective Ways To Optimize Your Blog Post For Your Readers

The readers are the most valuable part of your blog. Your blog is built upon the foundation of your reader base. If you're looking to earn money through blogging, then you need lots of traffic. To get traffic you need readers. You may have heard many times that you should “write for readers not for search engines”. To get good amount of traffic you need to produce original content. 

Google rolls out their search algorithm updates quite frequently now, which powers the Google Search Results. As search engines get smarter , it is now able to tell the difference between original and duplicate content.That is why it is now taking into account the social media presence of bloggers while updating the Google Search Algorithms.

In this post, I'm going to discuss some of the tips which you can use to take your blog post to the next level from the reader's perspective.

1. Create an introduction for your post 

 
Creating an introduction will help your readers understand what the post is actually about it. Some might actually get an idea about what is to expected when they are reading the article. Who knows, you may unknowingly solve a problem of your reader and in return they will be thankful to you thus, becoming a loyal reader of your blog.

2. Create Descriptive and Catchy Headlines

Create catchy headlines that your readers would love. Since headlines are the first thing that a user sees, your headlines should be able to bring out the curiosity in your readers which would beg them to read your post. Use large fonts to make your headlines standout. Preferably, you should use the <h2> and <h3> tags.

3. Create paragraphs in your post

 
Creating paragraphs would help your readers to determine what message want to convey in your article. Paragraphs are meant to differentiate the sub-topics between your main topic. They generate more attention from the readers and is likely to make your post more lovable to your readers.

4. Create sub-headings in your post

Creating sub-headings inside your post is vital. No one wants to read a long unorganized boring post. Use meaningful and catchy sub-headings. Not all of the readers would go through your whole post thoroughly and read it line by line. Some prefer to glance through the article. In that case, if a reader gets interested by reading a catchy sub-heading, he is likely to share the article on social media.

5. Use catchy images in your post

Images speak more than words. A reader might visit a particular post of yours by just seeing the thumbnail of the image in your post. Use meaningful images that goes with the content. Do not use unrelated images which may make your readers leave your blog.

6. Use clean fonts

Your content should be neat and clean. Use fonts that are easy to read (preferably Verdana , Georgia etc.). Use a size which is not too big and not too small ( preferably 16px ).

7. Offering important links to your readers

 
In most of the top-quality blogs, you will see most blog authors link out to important articles related to the article they are writing. If you think, you can offer a link to your readers (related to your niche ) that they will love, you can do so. The main objective behind this is to create value of yourself to your readers. Readers in return will love you and will come to your blog again and again to see what new information you have to share.

8. Avoid grammatical errors in your sentences

Your message through your content is great. But, if you have left some grammatical errors in the post then it makes the whole standard of your post come down. Also, avoid spelling mistakes when you are writing your post. The safest way to write a post is when you are done, you should read it over and over again just to check whether you have left some mistake in there. Also, if you think about changing a sentence structure which sounds much better, go ahead and do so.

9. Invite your readers to leave a comment

You should ask your readers to leave a comment about what they think about your post. Getting feedback from the readers is crucial. They can offer you some fresh perspective about how you should write a post which they will love. The standard of a blog is purely guided and determined by its readers.

That's about all on optimizing your post from the reader's perspective. Stay tuned for my next article which will be on how you can optimize your post for the search engines.

Well,that's about everything. Just hit the comment section to share your views.

Blog Engage Style Popup Subscription Form for Blogger

Blog Engage is a paid community for bloggers where you can syndicate your content , gain backlinks , meet other bloggers and lots more. You can also earn money using their affiliate lights program. It is a community which every blogger should join.

Since blog engage is my favorite community, I thought why not promote it by using a look alike widget. That way more people will get to know of blog engage.

Their popup domination subscription form looks like this.


Please note that this form is not in any way related to blog engage. It is only a customised feedburner form only meant for blogger. It's just a look alike using only HTML and CSS.

Like the previous aweber form, this one is also created using only html and css. The one I made looks exactly same. I'm working on a new form using jquery which I hope will be ready soon.


Note that since this form is only for blogger and being a customised feedburner form, the NAME field is only for display. It doesn't have any consequences whether someone fills it up or not.

To use this form, simply go to your blogger account.

>> Go to Layout --> Add a Gadget --> HTML / Javascript

Then copy the following code and paste it in the gadget. Now before saving the gadget make sure to change the feedburner username to yours.
<style type="text/css">

html #blog_engagestylepopupdiv {position:absolute;}
#blog_engagestylepopupdiv {z-index: 999999;display:block; top:0px; left:0px; width:100%; height:100%; position:fixed; background-image:url('#');margin:0; overflow-y:auto;}
#blog_engagestylepopup {background-image: url(http://blogtipscodes.googlecode.com/files/Untitled.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; overflow:none;}
.blog_engagestylepopup {width:750px; height:334px; position:fixed; top:50%; left:50%; margin-top:-167px; margin-left:-396.5px;}
form#blog_engagestylepopup {display:block; margin:0;}
form#blog_engagestylepopup #blog_engagenamefield {padding:2px; position:absolute; top:120px; left:490px; width:205px; font-size:16px; border:none; background:transparent;}
form#blog_engagestylepopup #blog_engagefield {padding:2px; position:absolute; top:170px; left:490px; width:205px; font-size:16px; border:none; background:transparent;}
form#blog_engagestylepopup #blog_engagebutton {position:absolute; left:480px; top:218px; width:250px; height:42px; border:none; background:transparent;}
</style>

<div id="blog_engagestylepopupdiv">
<div id="blog_engagestylepopup" class="blog_engagestylepopup">
<center style="color:#000;cursor:pointer;float:right;margin-right:-20px;margin-top:-20px;" onmouseup="document.getElementById('blog_engagestylepopupdiv').style.display='none'">
<img src="http://blogtipscodes.googlecode.com/files/aweberclose.png"/>
</center>
<form id="blog_engagestylepopup" action="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify" method="post" target="popupwindow" onsubmit="window.open('http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=blogtipscodes', 'popupwindow', 'scrollbars=yes, width=600, height=550'); return true">
<input type="hidden" value="blogtipscodes" name="uri"/>
<input type="text" id="blog_engagenamefield" name="email" value="" placeholder ="Enter Your Name..." />
<input type="text" id="blog_engagefield" name="email" value="" placeholder ="Enter Your E-Mail Address..." />
<input type="hidden" name="loc" value="en_US" />
<input type="image" src="http://blogtipscodes.googlecode.com/files/popup.gif" id="blog_engagebutton" />
</form>
</div>
</div>

Also, since this a customised feedburner form the name field in the form is just for display. You can write your name on it but it doesn't have any consequences.  Only your e-mail address will be taken into account while subscribing for feedburner.

If you like this form, join blog engage. It's a great community for bloggers. You can share your views in the comment section.

Aweber Style Popup Feedburner Subscription Form

In one of my previous post , I posted an article on how to implement an aweber style customised feedburner subscription form. In this post, I will show how to implement that form in a popup manner using only CSS and HTML. Here is a demo for it.


Just like the previous version , go to your blogger account.

>> Go to layout --> Add a Gadget --> HTML / Javascript.

Paste the following code in it.

<style type="text/css">

html #aweberstylepopupdiv {position:absolute;}
#aweberstylepopupdiv {z-index: 999999;display:block; top:0px; left:0px; width:100%; height:100%; position:fixed; background-image:url('#');margin:0; overflow-y:auto;}
#aweberstylepopup {background-image: url(http://blogtipscodes.googlecode.com/files/popup.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; overflow:none;}
.aweberstylepopup {width:350px; height:334px; position:fixed; top:50%; left:50%; margin-top:-167px; margin-left:-396.5px;}
form #aweberstylepopup {display:block; margin:0;}
form #aweberstylepopup #aweberfield {padding:2px; position:absolute; top:200px; left:75px; width:205px; font-size:16px; border:none; background:transparent;}
form #aweberstylepopup #aweberbutton {position:absolute; left:25px; top:233px; width:280px; height:42px; border:none; background:transparent;}
</style>
<div id="aweberstylepopupdiv">
<div id="aweberstylepopup" class="aweberstylepopup">
<center style="color:#000;cursor:pointer;float:right;margin-right:-20px;margin-top:-20px;" onmouseup="document.getElementById('aweberstylepopupdiv').style.display='none'">
<img src="http://blogtipscodes.googlecode.com/files/aweberclose.png"/>
</center>
<form id="aweberstylepopup" action="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify" method="post" target="popupwindow" onsubmit="window.open('http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=blogtipscodes', 'popupwindow', 'scrollbars=yes, width=600, height=550'); return true">
<input type="hidden" value="blogtipscodes" name="uri"/>
<input type="text" id="aweberfield" name="email" value="" placeholder ="Enter Your E-Mail Here..." />
<input type="hidden" name="loc" value="en_US" />
<input type="image" src="http://blogtipscodes.googlecode.com/files/popup.gif" id="aweberbutton" />
</form>
</div>
</div>

Before saving it make sure to change the feedburner username to yours.

Having trouble ? Just shoot the comment section. You can also share your views regarding this widget in the comment section.

Popup Domination Style Subscription Form for Blogger

Popup domination is mostly available for wordpress site owners. It helps in increasing the number of e-mail subscribers. The premium plugin for wordpress comes with a price of $80 or something like that. What I'm going to share is how you can add a customised popup feedburner subscription form for blogger blog.

While looking for some plugins to increase my e-mail subscribers, I found out an interesting code by Muhammad Hassan of exeideas.com. It was to my surprise, code for popup domination like subscription meant for blogger and other sites who cannot afford the premium plugin.

There were quite a few different forms in their post with 3 versions. The first two versions are of jquery and the 3rd one is using only css and html. I'm just going to share the 2nd and 3rd version. They look like same but they have different features.


Version 2 :

It is a jquery version with timing settings. You can adjust the time like how many days after the popup will again open once a visitor closes it. The timing range can be adjusted from one day to 30 days if the user doesn't clear his/her browser cookies.

Just copy the code and paste it in a HTML / Javascript gadget.

Here is the code for it.

<!-- This Is A Copyrighted "EXE Style POP UP" Widget, Don't Try To Theft It Otherwise... -->
<style type="text/css">
/*
ColorBox v1.3.16
(Copyright (c) 2011 Jack Moore - jack@colorpowered.com)
UpDated By www.exeideas.com
(Copyright (c) 2011 EXEIdeas International - admin@exeideas.tk)
*/
#colorbox, #cboxOverlay, #cboxWrapper{position:absolute; top:0; left:0; z-index:9999; overflow:hidden;}
#cboxOverlay{position:fixed; width:100%; height:100%;}
#cboxContent{position:relative;}
#cboxLoadedContent{overflow:auto;}
#cboxLoadingOverlay, #cboxLoadingGraphic{position:absolute; top:0; left:0; width:100%;}
.cboxPhoto{float:left; margin:auto; border:0; display:block;}
.cboxIframe{width:100%; height:100%; display:block; border:0;}
#cboxOverlay{background:#000;opacity:0.5 !important;}
#cboxTopCenter{height:35px;}
#cboxMiddleRight{width:0px;}
#cboxContent{overflow:visible;}
#cboxLoadedContent{margin-bottom:5px;}
#cboxLoadingOverlay{background:url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM-uAof05Ee4AtlwCoqgL_38NtZtcIGGDuIYNBhScjZVFqKeEVGs-er3ISB_zrDpKKtD0vs2ZTnlgtZXG9lqTuKOZ3EHyL0CK2UbKxnlc4qw4xvyYQmr6rBGsOkdt8byh28rKep_Zb8Ho/s400/loadingbackground.png) no-repeat center center;}
#cboxLoadingGraphic{background:url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB55Tf5VgZ6Q6p9Uq__ov2Gfxm9tnvSlKO_jRXzTCVAgVIXZBTFTknL93TYf0iSLkv70B3UUn6JnCiiMhDB5SKuCLWFvPfC5ikL52r-Q_cdXo9EQOAF9-v39KyebHcwuU-dLio0t7qoVs/s400/loading.gif) no-repeat center center;}
#cboxCurrent{position:absolute; bottom:-25px; left:58px; font-weight:bold; color:#7C7C7C;}
#cboxClose{position:absolute; bottom:318px; right:0; cursor:pointer; background:url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNx8hzb3O39DOE7gddHeigL5j49IEHWuJT3b11zxMJ_D66nL7NLpN9VNykpXu1wQbVYx11rN4zCgKOmC_z1CG3knph5GEDmgPyNRGL9Q7HaSXrtCVRSWp8B_0nGnhisHeE0kRhuvd6xg/s40/exestylepopupclosebutton.png) no-repeat; width:40px; height:40px; text-indent:-9999px;}
#cboxClose.hover{opacity:0.8 !important;}
#exestylepopup{overflow:none; background-image: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTFPhJYFfLm5qv1Vd7r1Tw_b0COscG9kd9JmAnaDSugMNx-6-pPxx7gWBBMi15neAN_WEEFyuHtC8V5K13q7h5TyI3lN-M2xBk3YGxPE0J7XOZ4M11FGSyNDyQtbyG2ca071O6ZUtg1A/s770/EXEIdeasBlog.png) ; background-repeat: no-repeat; height: 334px; width: 770px; }
form#exestylepopup{display:block; margin:0;}
form#exestylepopup #exefield{padding:2px; position:absolute; top:171px; left:480px; width:200px; font-size:16px; border:none; background:transparent;}
form#exestylepopup #exebutton{position:absolute; left:474px; top:214px; width:249px; height:42px; border:none; background:transparent;}
</style>
<script src='https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.6.1/jquery.min.js'></script>
<script src="http://exeideasinternational.googlecode.com/files/jquery.colorbox-min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
jQuery(document).ready(function(){
if (document.cookie.indexOf('visited=true') == -1)
{
var fifteenDays = 1000*60*60*24*30;
var expires = new Date((new Date()).valueOf() + fifteenDays);
document.cookie = "visited=true;expires=" + expires.toUTCString();
$.colorbox({width:"785px", inline:true, href:"#exestylepopups"});
}
});
</script>
<div style='display:none'>
<div id='exestylepopups' >
<form id="exestylepopup" action="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify" method="post" target="popupwindow" onsubmit="window.open('http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=EXEIdeas', 'popupwindow', 'scrollbars=yes, width=600, height=550'); return true">
<input type="hidden" value="EXEIdeas" name="uri"/>
<input type="text" id="exefield" name="email" value="" placeholder ="Enter Your E-Mail Here..." />
<input type="hidden" name="loc" value="en_US" />
<input type="image" src="http://img1.blogblog.com/img/blank.gif" id="exebutton" />
</form>
</div>
</div>
<!-- This Is A Copyrighted "EXE Style POP UP" Widget, Don't Try To Theft It Otherwise... -->

Now find these lines :

var fifteendays = 1000*60*60*24*30
The number 30 controls the cookie settings. 30 means the popup window will open again after 30 days if the user doesn't clear browser cookies.

if (document.cookie.indexOf('visited=true') == -1) 
If you make it false then popup window will appear during each window refresh regardless of the timing settings.

Version 3 :

Version 3 has been created using pure css and html. It's main disadvantage is the lack of timing settings and the visitor may be annoyed with the popup window appearing again and again.

Like the previous version, just copy the code and paste it in a HTML / Javascript gadget in blogger.

Here is the code for it.

<!-- This Is A CopyRight Code.It Is Free To Use But With HTML Design Code.
If AnyOne Found To Be Changing This Code Should Be Under Legal Action Via DMCA. -->
<style type="text/css">

/***********************************************
* CSS POP-UP With Light Box Effect- © EXEIdeas (www.exeideas.com)
* This notice must stay intact for use.
* Visit http://www.exeideas.com/ for full source code.
***********************************************/
* html #exestylepopupdiv {position:absolute;}
#exestylepopupdiv {z-index: 999999;display:block; top:0px; left:0px; width:100%; height:100%; position:fixed; background-image:url('https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho9Uv3mEWbJoEdH9gtV1xaHO19Psz0hhlSNvlJRnNSkyDAAhansZWKCfz20tvPfhzIkXDUrrcWGSxPMlTejbs0M8fLHJf6ZVEqeVgdGLhe7bx0B6iqhuxA0w3uUXMVUkotxoV4m9PbiQ/s128/exeideasopacity0.5.png');margin:0; overflow-y:auto;}
#exestylepopup {background-image: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTFPhJYFfLm5qv1Vd7r1Tw_b0COscG9kd9JmAnaDSugMNx-6-pPxx7gWBBMi15neAN_WEEFyuHtC8V5K13q7h5TyI3lN-M2xBk3YGxPE0J7XOZ4M11FGSyNDyQtbyG2ca071O6ZUtg1A/s770/EXEIdeasBlog.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; overflow:none;}
.exestylepopup {width:770px; height:334px; position:fixed; top:50%; left:50%; margin-top:-167px; margin-left:-396.5px;}
form#exestylepopup {display:block; margin:0;}
form#exestylepopup #exefield {padding:2px; position:absolute; top:171px; left:480px; width:200px; font-size:16px; border:none; background:transparent;}
form#exestylepopup #exebutton {position:absolute; left:474px; top:214px; width:249px; height:42px; border:none; background:transparent;}
</style>
<!--[if lte IE 6]>
<style type="text/css">
/*<![CDATA[*/
html {overflow-x:auto; overflow-y:hidden;}
/*]]>*/
</style>
<![endif]-->
<div id="exestylepopupdiv">
<div id="exestylepopup" class="exestylepopup">
<center style="color:#000;cursor:pointer;float:right;margin-right:-20px;margin-top:-20px;" onmouseup="document.getElementById('exestylepopupdiv').style.display='none'">
<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3-LPBzxvNTrMHLmlIuPxPaHUDXaT5WRtWaudYRwXBXDmHuxhWgO8w0QpainLbOfJOq3HAlTqbVYRuMfzqQgPtmDl1tJsYUipRwK2p1BxHdUhzPUS-6PFDsvYSQHbjUBDsqDmu6Od02w/s40/exeideasclose.png"/>
</center>
<form id="exestylepopup" action="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify" method="post" target="popupwindow" onsubmit="window.open('http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=EXEIdeas', 'popupwindow', 'scrollbars=yes, width=600, height=550'); return true">
<input type="hidden" value="EXEIdeas" name="uri"/>
<input type="text" id="exefield" name="email" value="Enter Your E-Mail Here..." placeholder ="Enter Your E-Mail Here..." />
<input type="hidden" name="loc" value="en_US" />
<input type="image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvzj77qcX9DYvPkCI4c888hdp6u8AW_IBFFbk0Tjhb6VurTykbaDAOWPnbfhUqRIfuMaLSSp6qZISvpiZRDG25MFpxS8lfxhPMeSt1uJE4QJ25WWGn88gzyV-XJ18rhpqeWX0KFXBS4w/s128/exeideasblank.gif" id="exebutton" />
</form>
</div>
</div>
<!-- This Is A CopyRight Code.It Is Free To Use But With HTML Design Code.
If AnyOne Found To Be Changing This Code Should Be Under Legal Action Via DMCA. -->

Also make sure to change the default feedburner username to yours in both the forms.

You can use any one of the version but I would suggest that you use the version 2 since it has the timing settings.


Which one you are going to use ? You can shoot the comment section to share your views regarding this widget.

AWeber Style E-Mail Subscription Form

AWeber is an e-mail marketing company through which any blogger or a website owner can send newsletters to it's subscribers with ease. At present, it is one of the most cheapest for e-mail marketing. It's e-mail subscription form is pretty good looking. Implementing the form in your blog will make it look more professional.


The credit for this form goes to Hassam of bloggingehow. 

The form is basically a customised feedburner form which lets anyone subscribe to your blog RSS feed. Since the form is good looking it will catch the attention of your visitors quickly.

To use this form in your blogger blog ,

>> Go to your blogger account.

>> Layout --> Add a Gadget --> HTML/ Javascript

>> Add the following code

<div class="subscribe_outer">
<div class="subscribe_wrapper">
<h1>Subscribe Via Email</h1>

<p >Sign up for daily updates.We value our e-mail subscribers and will never spam your inbox.</p>

<div id="btntEmailsub">
<form class="btntEmailform" target="popupwindow" onsubmit="window.open('http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=blogtipscodes', 'popupwindow', 'scrollbars=yes,width=300,height=520');return true" method="post" action="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify">
<input type="hidden" value="blogtipscodes" name="uri" />
<input type="hidden" value="en_US" name="loc" />
<input class="emailText" type="text" value="Enter your email..." onfocus="if (this.value == " enter your email...") {this.value="" }" onblur="if (this.value == " ") {this.value="enter your email..." ;}" name="email" />
<input class="emailButton" type="submit" value="Signup Now! (FREE)" title="" />
</form>
</div>
<p style=" line-height:0px; font-size:7px; font-weight:bold; text-align:right"></p>
</div>
</div>

<style>

.subscribe_outer {
    background: url("http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb382/chandeep10/btnt-custom-theme/color-chronicl.gif") repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;
    margin: 0 -15px;
    padding: 3px 0;
}
body {
    color: #272727;
    font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",Times,serif;
}
body {
    color: #272727;
    font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",Times,serif;
}
.sidebar .subscribe_wrapper h1 {
    color: #FFFFFF;
}
.sidebar h1 {
    color: #272727;
    font-family: "Droid Sans","Lucida Grande",Tahoma,sans-serif;
    font-size: 15px;
    font-weight: normal;
    padding: 4px 0 15px;
}
h1, h6 {
    letter-spacing: 2px;
    text-transform: uppercase;
}
.sidebar .subscribe_wrapper h1 {
    color: #FFFFFF;
}
.sidebar h1 {
    color: #272727;
    font-family: "Droid Sans","Lucida Grande",Tahoma,sans-serif;
    font-size: 15px;
    font-weight: normal;
    padding: 4px 0 10px;
}
h1, h6 {
    letter-spacing: 2px;
    text-transform: uppercase;
}
.subscribe_wrapper {
    background: url("http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb382/chandeep10/btnt-custom-theme/pattern-chronicl.png") repeat scroll 0 0 #333333;
    color: #CCCCCC;
    font-size: 14px;
    line-height: 10px;
    padding: 38px 50px 18px 38px;
}
.emailButton {
    background: -moz-linear-gradient(center top , #30A146 0%, #249334 100%) repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;
    border: 0 none;
    border-radius: 4px 4px 4px 4px;
    color: #FFFFFF;
    cursor: pointer;
    font-family: "Droid Sans","Lucida Grande",Tahoma,sans-serif;
    font-weight: bold;
    padding: 10px 40px;
    text-shadow: 1px 1px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4);
    width: 100%;
}
.emailText {
    background: url("http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb382/chandeep10/btnt-custom-theme/email.png") no-repeat scroll 10px center #FFFFFF;
    border: 0 none;
    border-radius: 4px 4px 4px 4px;
    box-shadow: 0 0 3px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05) inset;
    color: #444444;
    margin: 0 0 5px;
    padding: 10px 40px;
    text-decoration: none;
    width: 70%;
}
input, textarea {
    font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",Times,serif;
}
.subscribe_wrapper {
    color: #CCCCCC;
    font-size: 14px;
    line-height: 20px;
}
.post-body .emailButton {
    width: 300px;
}
.emailButton {
    background: -moz-linear-gradient(center top , #30A146 0%, #249334 100%) repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;
    border: 0 none;
    border-radius: 4px 4px 4px 4px;
    color: #FFFFFF;
    cursor: pointer;
    font-family: "Droid Sans","Lucida Grande",Tahoma,sans-serif;
    font-weight: bold;
    padding: 10px 40px;
    text-shadow: 1px 1px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4);
    width: 100%;
}
</style>

>> Now before saving it, use CTRL+F to find blogtipscodes and replace it with your own feedburner username.

>> Save it and view your blog to see the effect.

If you have any problems while implementing it, just shoot the comment section. 

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