Pages

Sunday, August 4

Blogger Template Success

reading new jax witty on mobile
As a web designer, I'd rather use the tools I build with for others, like Wordpress or Joomla, but I set this website up with Blogger so that I could write several articles per week without much trouble. But there are limitations with Blogger, and no real support. When I was encouraged by a local SEO guru to make sure this website checks all the boxes, I realized that, even with limited tech, Blogger can accomplish more than expected sometimes. This first article with the new template is an example.


Under Settings, you can add a template to Blogger. It's a spot where you can add html code that just automatically shows up at the end of your article. To do this, create a new article, add what you want, and then choose html to copy the code.

The problem is that Blogger is boring, so you might want to use a WYSIWYG editor to create some of the html, like I did with the table below. And the search box was borrowed from another Blogger user who didn't like the default one. I added it to the article template because I noticed there's no search box in the mobile version of my site, and 80% of my traffic is coming through mobile. Actually, that also means all the added items I have in side menus and whatnot are also missing, so I have to put everything I want a reader to see in each and every article.

So I added links to other sites, my resume, and contact information right in each article. It might get annoying for readers, but I can't really afford to have a website where people show up, read the article, and then don't think there's anything else to see. There's plenty more to see; it's just that Blogger isn't great at showing it, especially in mobile.

If you are local business trying to use Blogger as your main website, or even just as the official blog for your business, be sure to check out how it looks on a mobile device. As I said, Google barely supports Blogger, even if it's a great way to get your content out there, so it's really up to you to take control.

Plan to be consistent with each and every post. Use the template, fill in what you need, add an image with tags, add labels, add a search description, and treat each article as if it will generate at least one new sale (every month or day). Maybe it won't, but if you treat it that way, then you won't rush to publish something that's incomplete.



Related Stories

Request a Quote Option for Jacksonville Businesses

Freelancer Nightmare: Unpaid Work

I Want to Build My Own Website But Don't Know Where to Start

Thanks for reading. See more of my content:

Satisfamily - Articles about being happy as a family
Passive Ninja - Web Design in Jacksonville
McNewsy - Creative Writing
Educabana - Educational Resources
Brave New Church - Church Website Design
Voucher School - Pros and Cons of School Vouchers
Luthernet - Web Design for Lutheran Churches
Sitcom Life Lessons - What we've learned from sitcoms
Mancrush Fanclub - Why not?
Epic Folktale - Stories of the unknown
Wild West Allis - Every story ever told about one place
Educabana on Teachers Pay Teachers (mostly ELA lessons)
Real Wisconsin News - Satire from Wisconsin
Zoo Interchange Milwaukee - Community website
Chromebook Covers - Reviews and opinions

Brian Jaeger - Resume (I'm always interested)

Contact Me