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Why Guest Posting Is So Important?

| Tags : Blogging, Blogging Tips

Before I start with significance of guest posting, let me explain about "What Is Guest Posting?" Basically, guest posting refers to posting articles on other blogs. In other words, it means publishing articles written by you on other blogs rather than your own blog. Guest posting helps to increase the traffic to your blog, improves your writing skills, some blogs encourage Adsense Revenue Sharing - increase your Adsense earnings, increase back links which in turn increases your Google page rank and so on.

Today, I find so many guest bloggers on various blogs but still, there are people who don't encourage guest posting. If you are one among the few people who feel there are no advantages with guest posting, then you definitely need to check out the infographic which I found on "MyBlogGuest". The infographic was designed by Brandon Rhodes for MyBlogGuest, and the infographic will clearly explain the benefits of Guest Posting. Take a look at the infographic given below.

Guest Posting Infographic:

I feel the best way to develop a community of bloggers related to our niche and to drive more traffic is possible when we encourage guest posting on our blogs. We have already started Guest Posting on our blog. So, if any one wants to write an article for us, they can visit the following page for more details - Write For Us.

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Adsense With Social Bookmarks On Top Of Every Post

| Tags : Blogger Widgets

Hi friends! I have been little busy with my exams!! So, it's been quite long since I made a new post but today, I had some time to share an unique widget which one of my friends asked through the comments namely, "Adsense With Social Bookmarking Buttons On Top Of Every Blogger Posts". Just have a look at the screen shot below.

Excited about the widget? Want to add this to your blog as well? Then, just follow the following steps. Before I proceed with the steps, I will would like to highlight the advantages of this widget. One main advantage is that you can increase your Adsense impressions along with click rates by adding this widget. Other would be the Social Bookmarking Buttons.

By adding the social bookmarking buttons at the top, you make it very easy for the reader to share your posts via the networking sites. Make sure you added the "Stylish Related Posts" on your blog as well so that the social bookmarking buttons are placed at the end of each blogger post as well. The widget includes buttons for Twitter, Del.icio.us, Digg, StumbleUpon, Technorati and Facebook.

I don't want to take much of your time by making you read too much about the widget. Let me move to the procedure of installing this widget. Create a back up of your template before you modify your template. To do this, navigate to "Design->Edit HTML" and make a backup of your template by clicking on the "Download full template" link at the top. Once the back up is over, follow these steps carefully.

1. Let's first add the CSS for the above widget. Search the for the following piece of code in your blogger template. Use "CTRL+F" to fasten your search results.

]]></b:skin>

2. Download the following text document - CSS FOR ADSENSE WITH SOCIAL BOOKMARKS. Open the text document. Copy and paste the entire code present in it just above the line mentioned in step 1.

3. CSS customization is over. You may save your template temporarily. Now, expand your template, that is, make sure you have a tick mark in box next to "Expand Widget Template". Next, search using "CTRL+F" for the following line.

4. Download the following text document - WIDGET CODE FOR ADSENSE AND SB ON TOP. Open the text document and paste the entire code present in it just below the line mentioned in step 3.

Note: Replace "YOUR ADSENSE CODE" text in the file with your Account ID. Account ID will be found in the top right corner of the Adsense Dashboard. Take a look at the screen shot below for better understanding.

5. That's it!!! Save your template and check out the post pages on your blog. If you need any other networking sites apart from the ones mentioned above, you can leave your comments below and I will help you add them as well!!!

I hope you enjoyed this widget. Meet you soon with another interesting post/widget. Don't forget to share your views about this widget/post. We love to hear from you.

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Discount On ProBlogger Ebook For November 2010

| Tags : Blogging

I wanted to post about the special discount on ProBlogger Ebook last week. But, I did not get enough time because I was working on "Stylish Related Posts" widget. Today, I had some time to post about the discount. I hope every one in the blogging world know about Darren Rowse and his blog "ProBlogger.net". If you don't know about him, I highly recommend you to take a look at his site - ProBlogger.

Right from the time I started blogging, Darren Rowse had been my first inspiration and he still continues to inspire me. I gained a lot of useful information from his blog and I'm an active follower of his blog till date. Coming to the ebooks, I highly recommend "31 Days To Build A Better Blog" while the last release "The Copywriting Scorecard For Blogger" is also recommended. To be frank, I have a copy of the former. So, I know how useful it is but, I don't possess a copy of the second release. So, I don't know about it. With respect to the first release, I guarantee that you will find a gradual change in your blog provided you follow the tips mentioned in that book.

If you are excited to get the Ebook, then it's the right time to get one now because Darren is providing a discount for this month. You need to use the following code to avail the discount - november25. I will provide a quick walk-through on "How to avail the discount for the ProBlogger eBooks?"

1. Decide which book you want to buy.
If you are newbie, I highly recommend "31 Days To Build A Better Blog". If you have some experience in blogging, and your searching for ways to improve the quality of your blog posts, then its ideal to get your hands on "The Copywriting Scorecard For Blogger".

2. Click any of the following two links to get the respective eBooks or both, if you need both the eBooks now.

3. You will find a wepage similar to the screen shot shown below. Now, type the code "november25" on the box called discount, the one circled in red in the screen shot.

BEFORE ENTERING THE DISCOUNT CODE

4. Click "Update Cart" after you enter the text. Now, you will get a discount of $4.99 on the first book while $7.99 on the second. Check the screen shots for better understanding.

AFTER ENTERING THE DISCOUNT CODE

So, what you waiting for??? Grab a copy of the eBooks now!!! If you need more information about the ebooks, then Click here to view more details.

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New Stylish Related Posts For Blogger Blogs

| Tags : Blogger Widgets

Hi friends!! Today, I present to you the "All New Stylish Related Posts Widget For Blogger/Blogspot Blogs". The basic inspiration for designing this widget was "deluxetemplates.net". The main idea behind developing this widget is to increase our Adsense revenue, pageviews (primary reason for related posts widget) and to make our blog look more professional.

If you want to look at the earlier versions of the related posts widget posted on my blog, then visit the following two links - Related Posts Type One, Related Posts Type Two. The latest version of related posts widget comes with added features like "What's Next?" and "Google Adsense". Take a look at the screen shot below to preview the widget.

Are you excited with the widget shown above??? Want to add this to your blog, then just follow the steps mentioned below. Please create a back up of your template before you install this widget. To do this, navigate to "Design->Edit HTML" and make a backup of your template clicking on the "Download full template" link at the top. Once the back up is over, follow these steps carefully.

1. Expand your template, that is, make sure you have a tick mark in box next to "Expand Widget Template". Now, search using "CTRL+F" for the following line:

<data:post.body/>
<div style='clear: both;'/>
</div>

2. Download the following text document - Code For Stylish Related Posts Widget. Open the text document and copy the entire code present in it. Paste the code just below the line you searched in step1.
Note: Replace "YOUR ADSENSE CODE" text in the file with your Account ID. Account ID will be found in the top right corner of the Adsense Dashboard. Take a look at the screen shot below for better understanding.

3. Now, its time to add the CSS part for your widget. Search for the following line in your template.

]]></b:skin>

4. Copy the following code and paste it just above the line mentioned in step3.

.cps {
background:none repeat scroll 0 0 #ddd;
border-top:3px solid #000;
margin-top:5px;
padding:10px;
width:570px;
}
#end {
-moz-background-inline-policy:continuous;
background:none repeat scroll 0 0 #f9f9f9;
border-bottom:3px solid #000;
border-top:3px solid #000;
float:left;
font-family:arial;
font-size:12.2px;
margin:0 0 40px;
padding:14px 0 12px 25px;
width:565px;
}
.actions {
float:left;
margin:0 20px 0 0;
padding-left:0;
padding-top:0;
text-align:left;
width:23%;
}
.tips {
float:left;
margin:0;
padding-left:0px;
padding-top:0;
text-align:left;
width:65%;
}
#end ul.tips li {
-moz-background-inline-policy:continuous;
background:url() no-repeat scroll 0 3px transparent;
margin:0 0 9px;
padding-left:14px;
margin-left:-34px;
}
a.digg {
-moz-background-inline-policy:continuous;
background:url("https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsXxnV1lc0WpWT02AOHkRdGpV0kazSGyW_S-IwYgQxnG1HAOEtTkbNHITW3PUSFrNka_-skxD4TNO2B1h19G7q_k4XfJAj_od67L-Or4txPmao0ZTQvs-hlWjs74LuE_0UYtIi7wZdIHQ/s400/digg-1.png") no-repeat scroll 0 1px transparent;
padding:2px 0 2px 20px;
}
#end ul.actions li {
-moz-background-inline-policy:continuous;
background:none repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;
margin:0 0 9px;
}
#end ul li {
}
#end ul {
list-style-type:none;
}
a.delicious {
-moz-background-inline-policy:continuous;
background:url("https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEy9UwLTtflOzbAc8tQEe2FE-8juStEC63ecqj2uGN8Jk7-h3tK0KNwlkNvMWpI-aiB-jz4BFmju94oIEUIiSjS-IJQmcrMjWAMB3SGHPqIYBOiq66UMcSttcXh4SFYf8t-lFQDh4bpso/s400/delicious-1.png") no-repeat scroll 0 2px transparent;
padding:2px 0 2px 20px;
}
a.subscribemini {
-moz-background-inline-policy:continuous;
background:url("https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj59rIpqtNLyZiges-3o49Fe4nc06bMbfXckA_gNvjGo9EHuX_e1WoPcZlB7N4nMw3BzW5IaO8vPmU3NDfSRK6C94jaGl_ArLgYovr3hyot2jwekqmwlVXGYjHF8qbdTdRPBpaHZrJgB6Q/s400/feed.png") no-repeat scroll 0 1px transparent;
padding:2px 0 2px 20px;
}
a.comment {
-moz-background-inline-policy:continuous;
background:url("https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0mpY5jWoinVxmKGpfEJ5wit0GHY8QqPPV0l3Az8tGUbdA7-oBB8wR2QlmWY9q9C_Jaau7q0TRWUxSxWXgXbs0v7oE3G-DLQP3Cro-8QQFb-Qdt7a4wIxQVfb5GKbuaI059_qO0g8HGS0/s400/comment.gif") no-repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;
padding-left:20px;
}
a.stumble {
-moz-background-inline-policy:continuous;
background:url("https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDhyphenhypheno5Qf9u3VpzJAafhxX4uM323cxWFap-jK9MV1zIqyvLKeHNhGjgJBbQ6H3IbVhyphenhyphenFxJjX_OTpZ5cbD3n_QNcg9_4dHUHnqKs9ddNCc1LEiSwqkcyJQu6y7xpNt1w4W8kC9NDlcbLpE/s400/stumble.png") no-repeat scroll 0 1px transparent;
padding:2px 0 2px 20px;
}
a.twit {
-moz-background-inline-policy:continuous;
background:url("https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkfHaRDumwCbGx64ZfG2ll6gp0lkoru5y5q8JVKPcnXEv3YWUb1-9xspgu9eKIfk9uZBWmFZrheN9QpDfpT9F4Ibb5Cr3BTr97P0BBRJgC4mxEy67TkzIya1WpiJYVBWFxOi7Bt0AB08U/s400/twitter_16.png") no-repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;
padding-left:20px;
}
#end h3 {
color:#000000;
font-size:13px;
margin-bottom:11px;
margin-top:4px;
font-weight:bold;
}
.hidden {
display:none;
}

Note: If you wish to change the background or the border color, then change the codes highlighted in green. For any other customization regarding this widget, leave your comments below and I will try to customize them as you wish.
UPDATE
5. Well, the reason why "Posts" did not appear was a result of a small script that we missed out in the hack. So, I'm sorry guys. To add the script, search for the following line on your blogger template.

</head>

Now, paste the following piece of code in the text document - SCRIPT FOR RELATED POSTS just above the line mentioned in step 5.
6. That's it!!! Save your template. View the widget on your post pages.
Note: You need to view the post pages to view the widget. That is, click on any of the posts in your blog to view the final result. You cannot find them on the home page of your blog.

I hope you enjoyed this post and the widget as well!!! Please share your views about the widget via comments!!! We love to here from you. More over, you gain backlinks for your comments too since my blog is a dofollow blog:)

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Speed Up Your Blog - Tips And Tools

| Tags : Blogging Tips

This is my third post about "How To Speed Up Your Blog?". If you had missed the earlier versions, check out the "First Post" and "Second Post" on Speeding Up Blogger Blogs. I suggest you to have a look at the previous versions before you continue with this post because it might sound completely new, if you straight away get to this post. Here, I'm going to deal with some concepts that might sound little complicated when compared to the previous ones. However, I tried my best to keep it as simple as possible. So, webmasters can straight away continue reading this post.

I don't want to make this post too long by writing stories about the benefits which my blog gained after implementing these techniques. But, I would like to know how the following techniques benefited your blog/website. I have just explained few concepts in this post while the other techniques, like CSS Sprites and reducing DNS look ups, may be explained later in the upcoming posts on my blog.

STEP ONE : GET THE RIGHT TOOLS

The first and foremost step that one should implement to speed up his/her blog is to get the right tools for analysis. I suggest you to download "YSlow". YSlow is the best firefox add-on as far as I know, when it comes to complete analysis of your website. It will provide grades under each category that contributes to load time of your blog.

Another tool that would generate a detailed report about your website - Pingdom. The main benefit of Pingdom is that you don't need Firefox and the results are much easier to parse. How ever, I highly recommend you to download Firefox and get the add-on installed because YSlow is something very special, especially for webmasters.

STEP TWO : IMAGE AND JAVASCRIPT OPTIMIZATION

The most important factor that reduces the speed of your web page would be the images and Java Scripts on your blog. So, what should I do with the images? One simple method reduce the images. But, I feel images speak more than words. So, it becomes very important to add images on your posts and blogs as well. So, let's skip the simple method and get to the next level. Instead of reducing the number of images, it is better to reduce the image size. Let's take an example. Imagine that an image occupies 500kb but after compression it becomes 250kb which simply means my site will load faster.

Next question : How to compress the images without losing the image quality as well? The answer to this question is very simple - Smush.it!!! This tool does the compression work. Just upload the image to Smush.it and later upload it to your blog. You may apply this technique to the existing images on your blog as well!!!

As far as the Java Scripts are considered, I recommend you reduce them. However, when you can't avoid their use, I recommend you place them at the end of your template. Place them right before the end of body tag. Before placing them at the end, make sure all the Java Scripts are combined into a single file. So, that you avoid the number of HTTP requests and eventually, save time in loading your site. To combine the Java Scripts, use the following tool - JMerge. Jmerge is simple tool that will combine all the Java Scripts on your blog into one single file.

STEP THREE : CSS OPTIMIZATION

The most important optimization that is required for any blog or website is the placement of CSS and external stylesheets. The CSS and other external stylesheets should be placed above the end of head tag. This allows the browser to load the content first. Thus, the user can read the properly formatted content first while the CSS, Java Scripts and other stylesheets will load in the mean time.

One more optimization that should be made with respect to CSS would be the reduction in the code or in other words, the reduction in size. So, how do I do that? Apart from the CSS compressor explained in the previous posts, you may optimize it as shown in the example here. If you have a code that reads like the one below.

p.notice

{
font-weight: bold;

font-size: 1.33em;

}

p.another-notice

{
font-weight: bold;
font-size: 1.33em

}

You may replace them with the following code.

p.notice,

p.another-notice

{
font-weight: bold;
font-size: 1.33em;
}

This will considerably save few bytes (though very little) which in turn contributes to a quick load time. More over, you can prove to your friend that your are CSS geek just as I did. Any how, I believe that these tools and tips will increase the speed of your site. Share your views via comments and don't forget that you get back-links (How To Increase Backlinks To My Blog?) for your comments, since my blog is a dofollow blog. (What Is A Dofollow Blog?)

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How To Get Approved For BuySellAds?

| Tags : Make Money By Blogging, Make Money Online

Hi friends!! I'm very excited to know that my blog "Everything About Blogging | Free Premium Blogger Templates" got approved by BuySellAds. I opened my inbox today and found a mail stating that "Your Site Is Approved On BuySellAds". It's a Diwali surprise for me. To all those who do not know about BuySellAds, it is basically an Ad Agency that supports direct advertising but they accept only quality sites. So, what do I mean by quality sites?

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS (as mentioned on BuySellAds):

Greater than 100K impressions per month (for new sites, if you (or your team) have a history of creating really nice websites we will accept you)
Your website must be live, finished, and have fresh content.
Your website must contain custom domain (eg. www.abc.com), we don't accept sub domains (eg. www.abc.blogspot.com)
No porn, anything illegal, or containing even remotely "questionable" content.
If you have a ton of untargeted ads on your site already, we're not going to approve you.
Getting denied does not mean that we will not approve you at a future date.

The most important points to consider in the criteria listed are the second and the last point. The first one is a keyhole to the newbies and the last one gives you space to submit your site again and again. Do you think I got my site approved on the first attempt? Definitely not!!! I got it approved at the fifth attempt. So, what do they expect from you, in other words, what should your blog/site possess to get approved by BuySellAds?

As far as I know, you need to maintain a site design that is simple, professional and clean. If you mess up with the widgets and alignment, I'm sure they will not approve you. Make sure that you get your Alexa Rank below 200K, less than 100K would definitely help (Learn more about increasing your Alexa Rank here - 5 Methods To Increase Your Alexa Rank). The next important criteria is that you need to have enough Yahoo! Inbound Links (or) Google PR which is measure of Google backlinks (Learn more about increasing backlinks here - How To Increase Backlinks To My Blog?).

You should also make sure that your site has got a compete rank(optional). The last but not the least, you should have a minimum of 10,000 pageviews to get the approval. This has become mandatory for new sites because they ask you to add them as a temporary user to access your Google Analytics account and they personally verify whether you satisfy their minimum requirements or not.

I cannot guarantee that your site will be accepted if you satisfy the above mentioned conditions. How ever, I'm pretty sure your blog/site should possess the above criteria. In short, the conditions are necessary but not sufficient. However, if you wish to advertise on my site, then visit the following page for more details - Details About Premium Blogger Templates.

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Upcoming Premium Blogger Template - Money Maker

| Tags : Premium Blogger Templates

I'm very happy to announce that I'm about to complete an exclusive premium blogger template namely, "Money Maker" blogger template. This premium blogger template is very similar to the "Ultimate Blogging Theme" run on Wordpress. So, we can call it as "Ultimate Blogging Theme For Blogger". We have a little twist in releasing this template. So, read the complete post and don't forget to read the criteria at the end. Take a look at the screen shot below posted to the right.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

I'm pretty sure people running their blogs currently on Wordpress will be jealous of blogs run on blogger if this template comes into existence. I mentioned this statement because the Wordpress version of this template is priced at $147 whereas, it's gonna be absolutely free for blogger blogs. Excited with the news??? Hold on!!! There are few constraints that must be satisfied before I release the blogger version of this template for free. Before I post the criteria for the free release, just have a look at the features of this template.

FEATURES:
1. MAXIMIZE YOUR ADSENSE EARNINGS:
The name of the template (Money Maker) clearly explains about this feature. The template includes ad units placed at four effective locations just to maximize your Adsense click rates. The various ad locations include but are not limited to HEADER AD (468x60), ADS AT THE END OF THE POSTS (468x60 or 300x250 or 250x250), ADS AT THE END OF THE COMMENTS (468x60 or 300x250 or 250x250), SIDEBAR ADS (125x125).