How To Add A Delicious Button To Blogger Posts?

This post basically features with the addition of a delicious button to every blogger post. It is very similar to addition of digg button(How To Add A Digg Button To Blogger Posts), which you encountered in the last post under the "Design Tips" category. I would stress on adding delicious bookmarks on top of the every blog post apart from the ones installed below the blogger posts because many advertisers favor them. For example, you may check out BuySellAds site and you will find that, they take into account the number of delicious bookmarks for evaluating a site.

So, what is a Delicious? Delicious, formerly known as del.icio.us, is basically yet another social bookmarking site for storing, sharing, and discovering bookmarks. It was found in the year 2003 and later acquired by Yahoo in the year 2005. It includes more 5.3 million users and 180 million unique bookmarked URLs. So, the stats will tell the complete story about the strength of this site. Have a look at the final output of this post.How do I get my posts/links bookmarked? Just add the button in your blog and wait for your readers to bookmark it. Hope, some one will bookmark this post:) Now, let's straight away move to the steps for installing this button on our blogger posts.
1. Navigate to Design->Edit HTML from your blogger dashboard. Now, click on the Expand Widget Templates, that is ensure that there is a tick mark.
2. Search for the following code.

]]></b:skin>

3. Download this text file: CSS For The Delicious Button.
4. Copy the code in the text file and paste it just above the line mentioned in step 2.
5. Now, expand your template and search for the following piece of code.

<div class='post-header-line-1'>

6. Download this text: Code For The Delicious Button.
7. Copy the code in the text file and paste it just below the line mentioned in step 5.
8. Save your template.
(Note:The button will be visible only on the post pages and not on your home page. So, please check your post page rather than the home page to preview your button.)

If you find the button on the top right corner of your blogger post, it means you have successfully installed the button on your blog. For further customizations like displaying the button to the top left corner or bottom of the posts or if you face any problem in installing the scripts, leave a comment below and I will help you solve the problem!!

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AdvertiseSpace Review | Make Money with AdvertiseSpace

It has been a long time since, I posted some stuff related to money making. May be it is because, I don't make any money out of this blog right now. But, I know my blog's potential and its reach. Many bloggers have faced the same problem which I face now. I would say this is the testing time for my blog and I believe I can overcome the existing scenario. At present, I have set a goal of 100$ per month and I strive hard to make it. I feel, this site "AdvertiseSpace" will make some contribution to that short term goal.

Join AdvertiseSpace now!!!

As I said earlier, I had been struggling for the past few weeks to bring back the reputation and traffic which my blog had earlier, when it was on the blogspot domain. But, believe me or not, I got a mail from the Marketing Manager of Advertise Space. It stated as follows,

"We came across your site and we think you have a fantastic Blogging tips blog there, and would like to personally invite you to test out AdvertiseSpace.com as an additional revenue source for your blog. Some blogs who have been trying our new advertising system have sold out their ad space within 24 hours. We think that some of our advertisers would love your site as well. Your site has been pre-approved by our team, so please feel free to register here, and we will make sure to accept the site right away."

The above statements inspired me and still inspires me to improve my blog. It gives me a sense that the approach towards improving my blog is correct. It has triggered the fire in me and I am constantly trying to increase the visitors and readership for my blog. Although I have not yet made any amount with Advertise Space, I recommend everyone to give it a try.

Above all, do not weigh them on the lower side just because they took the first step to sign up publishers like me. If that's running in your mind, then please chuck it off!! They wish to serve quality ads to their advertisers. So, they are fishy and want to be more specific in approving blogs to their database.

They pay through PayPal on weekly basis and the minimum amount to cash out is $25. More over, the site includes a featured listing (VIP blogs) where in, only the best blogs under each category are displayed to the advertiser. Once, you get into that list, it is clear that some day or the other, an advertiser would approach your blog. Before you sign up, ensure that your blog has enough content and reasonable traffic so that, your blog has a higher probability for approval.

I would say, this site is very similar to BuySellAds excepting that the procedure to approve our blogs is little different. The site clearly states that, "Acceptance will be based on: original content, number of readers and user engagement, rather than Google PR, Alexa, ComScore and other marketing analytics." Therefore, no harm in trying. Just give it a shot and share your views via comments!!! Don't forget to let me know, which website generates more penny for your blog now:)

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Free Premium Blogger Templates - Pure Magazine

This post deals with yet another premium blogger template namely, "Pure Magazine". This template is basically a three column blogger template designed by "Lasantha Bandara". The template appears to be a two column one with a right sidebar which later splits into two making the template a three column one and provides ample space to equip all the possible widgets. Check out the screen shot of the template below or click on the link below it to have a live demo of the template.

Live Demo | Download Pure Magazine Blogger Template For Free

The template carries a complete professional look from the header to the footer. It includes two navigation bars, ready to use 468x60 banner ads space on the header, comes with the read more hack installed by default, featured content with numbered navigation below it, a ready to use subscribe widget with twitter and facebook links in it and so on. More over, the template is very SEO friendly which includes ready to use META tags for description and keywords. It ensures that your blog ranks better in Google search with the title hacks installed.

The template comes with a customized comments section to enable avatars for blogger comments. More over, the template includes a four column footer rather than a three column one giving you enough space for displaying almost all the widgets possible over the blogosphere. If I had to continue my review about this template, then I am pretty sure I will be boring you with the advantages only. So, I stop my blabbering here!! Just give it a shot!! Please leave your valuable feedback about the template via comments!!

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How To Add Digg Button To Blogger Posts?

I have recently added a tweet me button(Add Tweet/Retweet Button To Your Blog) with counter on the top right corner of my blog posts. Although, the social bookmarks are already available at the end of each post, I have installed the same on top of each blog post just to increase the visibility of them. The buttons must be readily available for the visitor to bookmark rather than scrolling to the end of post, searching them and then bookmarking it. More feasible the buttons are, more the probability of getting your posts spread over the net. Simply, means more visitors to your blog!!!

This post deals with adding a digg button to blogger posts. Before we install the digg button on our blogs, we must know, what is digg??? Wiki defines it as, "Digg is social news website". Perfectly right!! But, I would say it is a user driven social news website. So, what does digg do to my blog? Very Simple!! Nothing but, drives more traffic to your blog!! That is what all bloggers want!! So, lets straight away get to our work by adding this button on our blogger/blogspot blogs. Before we start off, just have a look at the screen shot below for a preview of the final output.
Follow the steps carefully!! Before trying this widget, please make sure that you have a back up of your template so that, if anything goes wrong, you can always upload the earlier version of your template!! To make a back up of your template, just navigate to Design->Edit HTML and click on the download full template. Once you make a back up, you can start off with following steps.

1. Navigate to Design->Edit HTML from your blogger dashboard. Now, click on the Expand Widget Templates, that is ensure that there is a tick mark.
2. Search for the following code.

<data:post.body/>

3. Now, copy the following piece of code and paste it just below the line mention in step 2.

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
<div style='float:right; margin-left:14px;'>
<script type='text/javascript'>
digg_url="<data:post.url/>";
</script>
<script src='http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js' type='text/javascript'/>
</div>
</b:if>

4. Once, you paste the above code. Save your template. That is it!! Very Simple!! Isn't' it??

(Note: If you want the digg button to appear at the top left corner, then just interchange the words right and left in the code mentioned in step 3. Moreover, if you have enabled the post pages on your blog, you will not be able to see the buttons on the homepage. So, visit the post pages to have a look at the final output!!!)

You may place the code mentioned in step 3 in different places in your template area. Below the post section, next to the post titles and so on. If you need help regarding the installation at any specific part of your template apart from the usual place explained in this post, then you may contact me via mail or just leave your comments below and I would be happy to help you!!! Always, feel free to share your thoughts via comments:)

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Free Premium Blogger Templates - Country Press

Hi friends!! I present to you yet another premium blogger template namely, "The Country Press Blogger Template". I found this template when I searched for the keyword "premium blogger templates". I felt this template looks more attractive and professional when compared to other templates of the same category. This template was initially designed for Wordpress which was converted to blogger by "Lasantha Bandara - Premium Blogger Templates". Before I start my review, check out the screen shot of the template below or click on the link to have a live demo of the template.

Live Demo | Download Country Press Blogger Template For Free

(Note: To download the same template without the sliding featured content, please click here : Download Country Press Blogger Template Without The Slider For Free.)

Country Press is basically a two column blogger template with a left sided sidebar rather than usual right sided sidebars. As we have seen in our previous series of posts on free premium blogger templates like "The Masunurin Blogger Template" or "The Grante Blogger Template" or "The Mimoza Blogger Template", this template also comes with ready to use social bookmarking buttons. The template attracts a lot of visitors at its first sight because of its wonderful color combination(Black and Saffron with White background for posts).

The main feature of this template would be the sliding featured content. How ever, this template has two versions. One with the sliding feature widget installed while the other without it. If you wish to add this widget(Sliding Featured Content) to your blog, then visit this link for step by step instructions: Add A Sliding Featured Content To Blogger. As found in many of the premium blogger templates, this template also provides two navigation bars and a space in the header for displaying 468x60 banner ads. Above all, this template is SEO friendly and comes with the page navigation widget installed for blogger.

How ever, this template lacks a footer section, it could be either a three column or a four column footer. To add this to your blog or to this template, just visit the following link: "Add Three Column Footer To Your Blog". Overall, a very good template to install especially for the newbies. Let me know if you liked this template or not. Feel free to leave your opinions via comments!!!

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How To Speed Up Your Blogger/Blogspot Blog?

Basically, the speed with which your blog loads is inversely proportional to the time it takes to load. I have explained this post in terms of reducing the load time. I found an article which mentioned that even the site/blog load time contributes significantly to the Google PR. So, how do I find out whether my site load time is quick or slow. If you need an answer to this question, then visit the following link "Website Optimization Speed Report" and enter your URL.

Scroll to the end of the report page and you will notice various sections say TOTAL_HTML, TOTAL_OBJECT and so on. Each section will be highlighted either in red or green or yellow. So, what do they indicate. The report will clearly explain the color and its significance. How ever, I would like to briefly say that, it indicates the areas where you need to concentrate so as to improve the speed of loading your website. Red indicates immediate attention while yellow indicates moderate attention and green signifies an optimal performance.

I suggest you to read each and every line of that report before you proceed with this post. The report will clearly specify what scripts or images can be compressed and how much bytes could be saved by doing so. Once you have analyzed the above report, it is time to take few steps to reduce the load time. Although, there are various methods through which the load time can be reduced, I restrict myself to the most effective methods in this post. Now, let's move on to the methods!!!

1. SIMPLY THE CSS SECTION: This method involves the compression of the CSS section of your blogger template. To do this, just visit the following link "Free Web Based CSS Compressor" and paste the CSS part of your blogger template. Once you paste the code, hit the compress button and you will find the reduced version of the CSS code. Now, replace this code instead of the CSS part of your template and save it. Ensure that, there is no problem after replacing the code by having a preview of your blog.

(Note: Before trying this step, please make a back up of your template. More over, the CSS part of your template is the code which lies between the <b:skin> and </b:skin>code.)

2. POSTS ON HOMEPAGE: The earlier versions of blogger/blogspot blogs did not include the "Read More" hack and people displayed the entire post on the blogs. How ever, this trend has reduced in the new version of blogger to some extent. Still, there are blogs where in , the home page includes so many number of posts that it becomes completely annoying for the visitor who visits the blog. Apart from losing a visitor, you lose the impressions and the bounce rate of your blog also increases. (To know more about Bounce Rate, visit the following link "How To Reduce The Bounce Rate Of Your Blog?"). So, reduce the number of posts on your home page. To do so, navigate to Settings->Formatting from dashboard and enter 4 or 5 for your blog with the "Read More" hack installed in your blog.

3. IMAGES OF YOUR BLOG: The images displayed in your blog play a very vital role in your site load time. The images when hosted at different sites say "Imageshack, Photobucket, etc.." contribute a significant load time. This is due to the diversity of your images, that is, your images have to be fetched from different servers. To avoid this, you may use a single server to host your images. Say use only Photobucket to host all your images. Thereby, you fetch multiple images from only one server and it reduces the load time drastically. Moreover, you may compress the images which you host, thereby the images will load faster than what it did, before compression.

4. AVOID SCRIPTS: The scripts that are included in your blog template also plays a vital role in the loading time of your website. Try to remove the scripts which you feel are unwanted. Apart from the scripts, remove the widgets which are unnecessary from your blog too. So, how do I decide a widget is important or not? Just ask the following questions to your self and you will have a conclusion. Firstly, Does the widget offer some value to your readers? Secondly, Does the widget match with your template, that is, provides an overall professional look? And lastly, Do you receive complains from your blog readers about the widget(say it disturbs them from reading the post)??? If you end up answering "No" to the first two questions or "Yes" to the last question, then I recommend you to remove that widget now!!

To be very frank, I know that my very own blog say, "Everything About Blogging | Free Premium Blogger Templates" is not a perfect example for an optimal blog load time. I am currently working on this area to reduce the load time of my own blog. As I find out more effective methods, this post will have another series. However, please feel free to share your ideas of reducing the blog load time too via comments.

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