Popular Site Hacks: Blogger

This post is about more the hacking a blogger blog but also about how to make it look as professional and successful as possible. We will work on your page from top to bottom (literally) to hack and critique it to look amazing.

1. Favicon
The first thing on top to fix is your Favicon. If you don't know what that is, its the small icon right next to the title in the tab of your browser. The Default will look like this. It is a very easy process to change this because there is now a tool to do it. All you have to do is enter the layout and click Favicon and upload one. The hardest part of this step is to find a Favicon to fit the size. The best way to do this is to make a square icon in any photo editing program and upload it to www.favicon.cc to adapt it to a Favicon before uploading it to your blog.


2. Domain
Another thing they will notice is your domain. I kept the .blogspot.com domain for financial purposes as it is completely free. But if you want there are many ways to set up a custom domain. One way is to simply register for a redirecting domain at www.co.cc of www.dot.tk because these are both free as well. The more expensive yet more professional way is to purchase a .com domain from a server site such as godaddy.com and use the domain tool to set it up like shown in this video (Attention! This is not my video but was found in the public domain of YouTube.).

3. Removing the Blogger Toolbar
This next step is where the hacking comes in, the Blogger Toolbar. Many people think that in order to have a professional style blog, you must distinguish it from the rest and one way to make it look less like the traditional "blog" format is to remove the blogger banner from the top. To do this we will have to edit the HTML code of your page. Go to Dashboard, Layout, Template, edit HTML. Next navigate to where you see something like this:

...
<b:skin><![CDATA[/*
-----------------------------------------------
Blogger Template Style
Name:     Rounders
Designer: Douglas Bowman
URL:      www.stopdesign.com
Date:     27 Feb 2004
Updated by: Blogger Team
----------------------------------------------- */

Next Paste this directly under it to successfully remove the banner:

#navbar-iframe {
   display: none !important;
}


4. Theme
The next thing people will see is your theme. I find that the best themes are modified ones that stick to a constant efficient layout and color scheme. Another big part is to get eye catching fonts while keeping them easy to read. All of these are fairly easy to figure out but it sometimes takes some time to make it just right. If you want a good wallpaper for your blog I suggest either a simple pattern or using a Google search to find seamless wallpapers.

5. Title
Next they will see your title and it will make or break the professional view of your blog. What I did was make a word art title in Photoshop and added effects before saving it as a interlaced .png to give it multiple effects that regular text formatting couldn't. Besides the look of your title, you must also think of the content of it. Yes that's right, Ramblings of a Geek is not a suiting name for a blog about cat videos. However it does match perfectly with posts about intriguing and intellectual topics that society might view as "geek talk". Pssh society!

6. Content
Next we have, believe it or not, the content! Yes, shockingly people actually read the posts and judge the content of them. It is important to keep all subjects closely related yet distinct in order to create interest in your already targeted audience. Also, when writing posts you must be professional about your wording, structure, and grammar while at the same time giving it a spark of your personality. Without personality people will become bored in your work and think tat you don't care about it and as any good writers knows, you have to LOVE what your writing about weather it be computers, cooking, or even yourself. If you don't love what your writing about nobody else will either.

7. Extras
The last view things they will take at your site is at your gadgets and other extra items added. I suggest using default gadgets as well as adding an email subscriber one to bring back readers. One of the major items to include is an About the Author page to let them know more about you. While filling out the information, be sure to be professional as this is the over all goal but also include personal things to find common ground with readers.It is also a plus to setup a mobile view for your site which is configured the same place you enter the HTML like we discussed earlier.

I hope you have learned a bit from this semi-tutorial article and will be on your way to a more professional and attractive blog. I would love to hear your thoughts on it as well as suggestions for more tutorials. If you haven't noticed there is a new widget in the sidebar to receive post notifications by email which is a really cool feature that I recommend readers to use. If you have any questions or suggestions you can comment below. Also don't forget to follow this blog by becoming a subscribed member in the sidebar. Lastly, if you want, you can receive blog updates via twitter by becoming a member through your twitter account.