Cookie cutter blog themes aren’t for everyone
There seems to be two primary reasons that people take advantage of cookie cutter blog themes. If you are new to blogging, or you have created a blog for fun or personal reasons, you simply may not want to pay for a custom blog theme. The other possibility is that you have multiple blogs.
Every blog theme has its own quirk that the user will have to adjust to. Some themes have easy to use theme editors, while others you have to manually adjust the code. One blog theme works with all of your favorite plugins, while the next works with just half of them. One works well with Internet Explorer, but is a complete mess with Firefox.
The point is that once you learn how to manipulate one blog theme, you may want to use it as much as you possibly can in order to provide your readers with the best results. Who could blame you?
The problem here is that a cookie cutter blog theme rarely is suitable for all of your blog themes unless they are all relatively similar. One blog might need a “breaking news” section while another blog would have no use for this.
Since many of us simply don’t want to pay for a custom blog theme, the only real option left is to learn how to code the stupid things. This will allow you to tweak the cookie cutter designs in order to accommodate your blogs. For those of you who are really ambitious, you can even create themes from scratch. Anybody who is serious about blogging will be benefited by this extra knowledge!
Now if you are using a blog theme for fun, nobody can possibly expect you to pay for a custom design. Since you only have to focus your attention on one blog it should be far easier to find the right theme to accommodate your content, while still producing the best results for your readers.
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Filed under Blogging, Blogging Tips
Get your frequent readers to click your Google ads
I have spent time talking about the tendency to glaze over Google ads before. We all know what they are, and many of us hate to click on them. The problem is that many bloggers rely on their Google Adsense earnings to keep their site up and running.
If you have a blog with a strong readership base, you may find it extremely difficult to generate Adsense earnings. In addition to people simply not wanting to click on your advertisements, eventually your frequent readers won’t even notice them anymore. It doesn’t matter if you have the best advertisement in the right location with excellent colors, your readers will become accustom to seeing it and they will simply fly right by it.
If you want the best chances of your readers clicking on your Google ads, you need to make them stand out over the long run. In order to do this it will be important to spend some time to change the look of your advertisements. Come up with multiple color palettes to suit your site and implement them.
One week maybe your advertisement has a blue background, and the next week the background is red. Your readers will focus on that area of your blog simply because it is different. If you aren’t getting enough of a boost from different color palettes, you can also try placing your Google ads in alternative locations.
Keep in mind when you create your Google ads you can change the settings to allow for multiple color palettes. Look for the “Use Multiple Color Palettes” checkbox if this is an option you want to take advantage of. This will allow your ads to rotate their colors automatically without any additional effort on your behalf.
Filed under Blogging Tips, Make Money Blogging
Picking the right colors for your Google ads
Creating the right Google ads to compliment your blog can be a grueling experience. You have to get the right type of ad that will attract the attention of your readers, then you have to pick the right size to accommodate your blog theme, and then you have to pick the right colors. The problem is – how do you know what the right colors are?
The problem with Google ads is that most people know exactly what they are. In many cases, your readers will ignore your ads altogether and your earnings will suffer. Using the right color palette for your ads can improve the chances that your readers will notice and click on them.
Before you decide which colors to use it is important to understand where your advertisements will be placed. If you know exactly where the ads will go you can better understand how to attract the attention of your visitors.
The first strategy that you may want to consider implementing is called blending. This means that you choose a color palette that allows seamless integration between your ads and your blog theme. Make the background, text, and hyperlinks the same color as the rest of your blog theme.
Another technique to experiment is called complementing. This simply means that you don’t use the same colors that make up your blog theme, but you select colors that will compliment them instead. If you have a blog theme that consists of pastel pink, blue, and yellow try adding an advertisement with a background that is pastel green!
The last technique to consider is called contrasting. If you have a blog theme that has a dark background, this technique may work well for you. With this technique, you will want to pick a background for your ad that creates a noticeable contrast. A white advertisement on a black background is sure to grab attention.
Filed under Blogging Tips, Make Money Blogging
Best place to put Google Ads
If you are currently using Google Adsense to display advertisements on your blog, you may find yourself wondering about ad placement. Where is the best place to put your Google ads in order to generate the highest earnings? There is actually no easy answer to this question because every blog is slightly different from the next. The good news is there are certain guidelines that everyone can use to maximize their Adsense earnings.
Before deciding on the best ad placement location, there are a few questions that you should ask yourself. The first, and perhaps most important, is how do your readers use your site? Do they seem to focus their attention in a specific area on your site?
The next thing you need to think about is clutter. While you want your Google ads to be seen and clicked on, you don’t want to interfere with the user’s experience. You don’t want to stick your ads in random locations that might negatively affect the overall feeling of your blog.
The way you place advertisements on your blog is sort of similar to that of a newspaper. A newspaper is typically folded in half. The top half of the newspaper is known as “above the fold.” This portion of the newspaper is generally where you’ll find the biggest stories because that is where are focus typically falls. You can create this imaginary “fold” in your blog. Advertisements placed above the fold typically perform better than the ones below.
There is an exception to this rule, and it just might make a difference in your earnings. If you post a lot of content on your blog you may be benefited by a Google Ad that is placed at the bottom of each of your posts. A reader might skip an ad at the top of the post because they want to get right to the content. However, once they have finished reading your post an interesting Google ad directly following it might be too tempting to resist!
Filed under Blogging Tips, Make Money Blogging
Pay attention to Google Adsense optimization notifications
Did you know that Google Adsense will actually alert you if you are not fully taking advantage of their services? It’s true! These alerts are called optimization notifications. Once a month Adsense will send you one of these notifications if it has determined there are things you can do to increase your earnings.
Adsense has created a system that actually analysis certain aspects of your account. This includes everything from your referral settings to the actual ads that display on your sites. This process is completely automatic and you don’t have to do anything to enable to the optimization notifications.
So if you happen to see an optimization notification in your account – take the time to read it. What ever suggestions it might contain you should consider implementing them on your sites. Who knows, you might just see a dramatic increase in your earnings! Who doesn’t want that?
If you happen to receive an optimization notification don’t let it discourage you. It takes a while to successfully configure each of the different channels that are available to you. Take content advertisements for example – there are different types that you can display on your site. You can change the color of these ads and even their shapes.
Every time you make a change to your Adsense settings make sure you spend some time monitoring the relevant reports. It is essential that you understand how your changes are affecting your earnings. If you make a change and notice your earnings drop, you can easily reverse the change and try something new.
The importance of user generated content
As I have said so many times before, it can be really difficult to get a new blog established. It takes a lot of time to setup a blog, pick a theme, install the necessary plugins, and come up with creative tag lines to attract the attention of your readers. On top of all that, you still need to fill your blog with content.
If you are looking for an easy way to fill your blog with content, you should become familiar with the concept of user generated content. This simply means that your users are creating some of your content for you. There are several ways you can do this and each method has pros and cons. Take the time to figure out which method will serve your blog the best.
One of the safest ways to add user generated content to your blog is through a WordPress plugin called FV Community News. This simple plugin will create widgets that you can add to your sidebar. One widget will allow your readers to create a blurb of info that will be displayed on your site. You can mediate all blurbs before they are displayed. A secondary widget is actually used to display the blurbs in your sidebar!
Another great way to get user generated content on your blog is through a different WordPress plugin called TDO Mini Forms. Unlike the FV Community News plugin, the blurbs that users contribute are inserted into posts. After you approve these posts they show up on your blog like any other post that you would create!
Filed under Blogging, Blogging Tips
