How to Blog : Blogger ….Part One

Blogger is a product of Google which provides a simple and straight forward way to start blogging for free. It gives you a sub domain and all the necessary tools to publish a blog. Also available are some advanced features which allows you to changeover to a complete website with a custom domain, again for free.

You may start with logging into your Gmail account. Top right corner, you will find a box of dots arranged in rows and columns of three. On clicking it, you will get the complete range of products from Google. Look for the prominent yellow “b” to enter Blogger. You might have to go down and choose more if blogger is not visible.

 

If you are entering Blogger for the first time, you will be asked to complete your profile. This option will not come if you have already activated and are using Google Plus.

Once things are ready, you will be taken to the Blogger Dashboard.

The two prominent sections are New Blog, where eventually all your blogs will come and Reading List where the blogs you follow will show their latest posts.

Click on New Blog and a New Blog interface will open.

Give a Title to your Blog. The title can be different from your Address or can be the same. The address field is where you have to be careful. Once entered and blog created, it cannot be changed or transfered. There is an option of the changing the address in settings, but it cannot be transfered. So be careful when choosing a name.

Choosing a template depends entirely upon what will be the content of your blog. But Simple Template which is selected by default is good enough. After reviewing the options, click on Create Blog. Your blog is ready and it will take you to the New Post section as shown below.

The overview of your blog gives you an easy access to your settings, neatly arranged on your left side.

Here are the main settings.

Posts will give you a list of your published posts and drafts in a reverse chronological sequence.

Pages will do the same for your pages, including the option for a new page. Pages are basically containing static content.

Google Plus will give you options to integrate your blog with your google plus page. This is highly recommended so that you can make use of some additional features to publicise your blog.

Stats will give you a glimpse in your viewership.

Earnings will enable integration with AdSense.

Campaigns is integration with AdWords.

Layout is a drag and drop setup to move the various elements of your blog to customise the look and feel of your blog. You can arrange your gadgets or add new ones.

Template section is where you can do some customisation or change your template altogether.

Advanced options are covered in Settings.