Showing posts with label Beginner's Guide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beginner's Guide. Show all posts

Thursday, 27 July 2017

20 Best Sites with High Quality Free Stock Photos

In today's online business world, tons of people have a need for quality free stock photos for their blogs, company websites, and everything in between.

Unfortunately, there are still a lot of businesses who are settling for the corny stock photo of yesteryear, either because they don't know their options or think they are too hard to find.

That's where the good news comes in: good stock photos don't have to be expensive or hidden deep in the crevices of the internet. In our digital age, there's plenty of solid material out there - if you know where to look. Read for more good news? We have your back, and have taken the hassle out of finding these stellar stock images.

We're confident that this collection of resources will help you find exactly what you're looking for, whether it's adorable animals, minimalist interior design, and anything in between.

free stock photos

20 of the Best Sites to Download Royalty Free Stock Photos

1. Negative Space


One of the best things about Negative Space is that they are constantly updating their free stock photos every week. With Negative Space, you never need to worry about copyright restrictions, so you can use them for your project without having to jump through hoops.

Negative Space has a large selection to choose from, and the interface is very user-friendly. It's easy to sort through the photos in order to find exactly what you need.

2. Death to the Stock Photo


The founders of Death to Stock are dedicated to making beautiful photos more accessible. They knew how important it is for those running blogs and online businesses to not spend all of their profit on images for their websites.

The format is simple: just give them your email to get a new bundle of great stock pictures monthly, then just use the ones that apply to your current project. Easy!

For businesses with some extra funds to invest, Death to Stock has an affordable Premium membership which gives you access to their entire library of photos (instead of just the pre-selected ones they send), plus some of the profits from the membership are used to further the resource by financing photographers and their projects.

3. Picjumbo


Picjumbo is unique in that all of the photos come from a sole photographer, Viktor, who shares his photos from his home in the Czech Republic.

He updates the selection of photos really frequently, so there is always a fresh batch of high-quality graphics to download. To take it a step further, Viktor offers affordable paid packages for businesses that use stock images frequently. He also has a nifty plugin for the Photoshop and Sketch programs for just under 8 bucks.

4. Stokpic


Stokpic is another example of a photographer deciding to give away his photos for free. Ed Gregory decided to share 10 new photos bi-weekly that you can use in any way that suits you.

The easy user interface allows you to browse his categories like architecture, fashion, and nature.

5. Kaboompics


The site's creator, Karolina, is a Polish web designer. She is the creative engine behind this extensive stockpile of high-quality pictures. The images address a wide variety of topics. As with the rest of the sites, users can use Karolina's pictures for anything they need.

A quick visit to the About page of the site shows how big of a reach it has; during our visit to the page, the Image Downloads ticker stood at a whopping 5,051,906.

6. Startup Stock Photos

Startup Stock Photos is a company that operates on simplicity. They share pictures they're taking anyway in order to help businesses find a cheaper way to gain traction online.

You don't have to be a startup business to utilize their images, which is fine by them. The images are free, but they wouldn't say no to a donation.

7. Freerange


Freerange photos derive from a community of in-house as well as external talent.

At Freerange, their principles and motivations are clear: "Freerange Stock was formed with the goal to provide quality stock photos for commercial and non-commercial use. For free. We feel that free stock photos can be good photos." Can't argue with that.

8. Libreshot


Every photographer brings his/her own unique style to this fun brand of art. At Libreshot lives a very unique collection of free stock photos.

9. Fancy Crave


The images on Fancy Crave come without copyright restrictions, and they're free of all the corniness of typical stock photos.

Attribution is not legally required, but they note that it is recommended if possible.

Fancy Craves selects two fresh photos to upload daily, keeping things current and providing beautiful photos to suit all needs.

10. Unsplash


The creativity of the title matches the creativity of their photos. They have pages and pages of quirky, one-of-a-kind images for you to choose from.

As you've likely come to expect, these images are able to be used without any copyright restrictions.

11. StockSnap


The photos on StockSnap are of superb quality and most of them are especially great for use as backgrounds.

The selection is so interesting and versatile that it's easy to find yourself on page 50 of photos all of a sudden. And yes - they're free.

12. SplitShire


SplitShire is an Italy-based organization that offers pages of incredible free photos for you to use at will. Their philanthropic mission is simply: "Helping you to be awesome out there with great content."

13. Life of Pix

Life of Pix was created by Leeroy Advertising Agency (Montreal, Canada) and they have a real knack for supplying great pictures. Naturally, these cool graphics are fine for you to use - no strings attached.

If pictures aren't enough for your unique project, they have a sister company called Life of Vids.

14. Pexels


Unlike most of the other listed sites, Pexels handpicks their favorite photos from a pool of free image sources to ensure that you're seeing only top-tier work.

The images that survive their rigorous selection process are then able to be used in any way you see fit. The site also makes searching for your perfect stock photo as easy as possible.

15. HubSpot


HubSpot is a bit different from the rest; there's somewhat of a shortage of high-quality free stock photos available to those who need solely business-themed graphics. Hubspot has a healthy selection of corporate-style images that are perfect for a professional project.

16. Gratisography


The images on Gratisography lie a little further on the wacky side. These creations come from photographer Ryan McGuire, who is known for seeing things a bit differently. His work is significantly quirkier than some other sites (i.e. fake moustaches, pineapples wearing glasses, gummy bears in cereal) but you never know when you project might just call for something out of the ordinary.

17. Jay Mantri


Jay Mantri is yet another good-guy photographer who chose to share his amazing photos with the world. His work is quite sophisticated, and a lot of shots leave you wondering how he did it.

This is one artist we'd say to go check out anyway, even if you don't have a specific need for scenic, high-class images.

18. ISO Republic


ISO's Republic's mission is to supply only the best digital images for online businesses of all kinds.

One visit to their site will tell you immediately that they are serious about the quality of their content. The photos are top-notch quality, and while the subject matter varies, they all maintain a similar level of sophistication.

Similar to some previously listed sites, you have an option on ISO to register for their email list to get extra content not posted on the site.

19. New Old Stock


This free stock photo site embodies classic elegance. They deal exclusively in old photos, usually in black and white. Web designers and history buffs alike will enjoy their large compilation of antique photos. Though there are some unique challenges to the redistribution of old pictures, the site only posts those that have no evidence of copyright issues.

Their rules are slightly more stringent than other sites, so just make sure to read up on it before using these photos for commercial purposes.

20. Pixabay


Pixabay is our final choice of free stock photo collection. It has a great archive of plenty of public domain photos (so you can use them without worrying about copyright issues). Thank goodness they have an intuitive search mechanism since they have just shy of a million awesome graphics.

Unlike some other sites, it offers a more advanced search that allows you to filter your query as much as you need so you can always find exactly what you want.

Tuesday, 29 November 2016

How to Get a Disabled Gmail Account Back

It can be a frustrating experience when you find your Gmail account is no longer active. Having your Gmail account disabled means losing access to the products by Google that were linked. There are several reasons why your account may have been ended that are mostly due to the Terms of Service policies by Google itself. So, if you have violated one more of the polices either intentionally or not, you can find yourself with a disabled Gmail account.

Adding to the frustration is that Google will often disable the account with no warning. However, the good news is that there are simple methods for getting your account back online.

Gmail Account Temporarily Disabled

This is generally the easiest to overcome as Google believes that your account may be compromised. To rectify the situation, you will be asked to provide your mobile number or recover email identification. If you do either, they will send you a text message that will allow you to access your account quickly. You will need to do so within a 48-hour period otherwise it will become more difficult to get back your account.

Gmail Account Disabled Due To Perceived ToS Violation

If your Gmail account disabled included a terms of service (ToS) violation warning, then you will need to fill out their contact form so the process of getting your Gmail account back can begin. You should read the ToS thoroughly so that the violation will not happen again and provide the email address. If you do not get a response, repeat the step every two days until you do.

gmail account disabled
Gmail account disabled - Google contact form screenshot

Once they have responded, the next step should be to get your Gmail back so that you can gain automatic access to all the Google products including AdSense. You can also visit the help forum where you can open a 'Gmail account disabled' topic. Just focus on the Gmail account itself first as that is the key to the rest of your Google services. You'll want to discuss the issues that you are facing and why this needs to be resolved as quickly as possible. If the Top Contributor pings your thread to the staff at Google, then you should expect your account to be back online in 48 hours or two business days.

Gmail Account Disabled Due To Serious ToS Violations

If the Gmail account disabled was due to a serious violation of the Terms of Service agreement, as well as the Google policies that oversee your account, then you will have considerable difficulty in getting your account back. Such violations would include your AdSense account being involved in click fraud, for example. Serious violations that are clear will make it virtually impossible for your account to be restored.

If what happened was not considered a serious violation, then you should be able to get your account up and running within 24 to 48 hours depending on the circumstances. It pays however, to keep all your important data and information outside of your Google accounts in case of getting a Gmail account disabled result. By protecting yourself, the impact will be easier to handle until you can get your account back online.

Monday, 3 October 2016

How to Create a Static Home Page in Blogger

When it comes to home pages, most websites can be divided into two: static and non-static. As their name implies, static home pages stay permanent no matter how many times the website is updated, while non-static home pages reflect the changes that are made to the site and show the latest posts first.

The latter has become well-known nowadays due to the rising popularity of personal and even corporate blogs. However, there are still many people who prefer static home pages because it makes their websites look more organized and professional. It also gives them more control over the readers' experience on their site and helps them create stronger brand awareness through the uniform message that their home page presents.

Fortunately, if you own a Blogger site and want to make your home page static, you'll find that creating one isn't as difficult as it seems. You can create a static home page in Blogger by taking these steps:

static pages in Blogger

1. Create your static home page

The first thing you should do is to create a new page for your blog. This will serve as your static home page but, for now, it will look and act like any other page in your site.

To make this page, you'll need to go to the main menu of the Blogger dashboard and click on the "Pages" option on the left side on the screen. Doing this will lead you to the "All Pages" menu window. Here, click on the "New Page" button and you'll enter an editor that looks similar to the Blogger Post editor that you use when publishing a new blog post.

static home page

At the top box, enter the title that you want for this page - in this case, let's call it the "Welcome" page. In the larger text box, type the content that you want to appear on your home page; this can be a paragraph, or two about yourself or your business and what your site is all about.


Once you're done, click "Publish". The window will return to the main "All Pages" menu, and you'll see the new "Welcome" page you've created. Copy the URL of the "Welcome" page since you'll need it later on. To do this, right click on the 'View' link and select 'Copy Link Location' from the menu.



2. Redirect the default home page to the static one

Once your "Welcome" page is up, the next thing you should do is to change Blogger's default homepage. This involves redirecting from your site's original home page to the static homepage that you've created so it would be the first thing that people see when they visit your website.

Related: How to Set Custom Redirects in Blogger

To do this, you'll need to go to main Blogger editor menu, click on "Settings" on the left side of the screen, and choose "Search Preferences". Under the "Errors and redirections" section, you'll see the "Custom Redirects" option with an "Edit" link beside it. Click on the "Edit" link to open another window, where you'll see two boxes named "From" (with your blog's URL beside it) and "To".


In the "From" box, enter only a forward slash symbol "/". In the "To" box, paste the URL that you copied earlier and add the latter part of the URL of the "Welcome" page. For instance, the page's URL of our demo blog is static-home-page.blogspot.com/welcome.html, so we'll remove the "http://static-home-page.blogspot.com" address and add only "/p/welcome.html" in the "To:" box. The "/p" signifies that it's a static page.


Next, check the little box beside "Permanent", click on the "Save" text link, and press the "Save changes" button. Doing these will redirect your site's main URL to its new static home page. Access your blog on a separate browser to see if it works.


3. Make tabs for your site

If you're not planning to make tabs visible in your blog, you can stop at Step #2. But, if you want your site to have tabs that indicate the home page, the main blog page, and other pages you may have (such as the FAQs and Contact Us pages), you'll need to take another step.

Why is this important? Basically, when visible tabs are enabled in your site, they will show that you have two existing pages: the default home page and the new "Welcome" page you've created - both of which redirect to the same static page. This can be confusing for your readers and may even affect your search engine rankings.

To fix this, you first need to enable tabs by going to the "Layout" menu item and click on the "Add a Gadget" link. You can choose to add it below your blog header or sidebar. In many cases, it's advisable to add it below blog's header since they're more visible and give your website a sleek, professional look.


Once the pop-up window opens, scroll down and click on the 'Pages' link:


This will open another window named "Configure Page List". Here, under the "Pages to show" section, you'll see the default home page and your new static homepage with small boxes beside them. Uncheck the box beside the default home page to hide it from view, check the pages that you want to display in the menu and then click on the "Save" button to save the changes.


You can stop at this point but, if you want, you can also create a specific tab that will lead to your main blog post page. To do this, edit the "Pages" gadget that you just saved and click "+ Add external link".


On the new window that would open, enter the title you'd like for the page (such as "Blog") along with /index.html web address, then hit "Save Link" and click the "Save" button on the "Configure Page List" window.


Now, view your site and you will see the pages menu containing the "Welcome" page and "Blog" tabs. To see how this works, you can also visit our demo blog. Enjoy!

Final Note

Having a static home page can be beneficial for your blog. Follow the steps above now to create a static home page in Blogger!

Saturday, 24 September 2016

How to Hide Posts from Blogger Homepage

The point of blogging is to make your blog posts visible to your target audience as well as to search engines. However, there are times when you need to hide certain blog posts from homepage. For instance, one post may contain outdated information, so you don't want it to be seen by your audience but you also want to keep it on your site for records purposes. Or perhaps you want a certain post to still be seen on your blog, but you don't want it to show in the home page.

Either way, you have to find ways to hide certain blog posts. Fortunately, if you're using Blogger, you can easily do so by taking a few simple steps. You can use this guide to get started.

hide post from home page

Backdate Blogger Posts

Let's discuss this technique first since it's simple and doesn't require you to deal with any lines of code. Basically, the only thing you need to do is to change the publishing date of the post you want to hide; specifically, you need to backdate it to the oldest possible date. Doing this is effective if your Blogger site is configured to show the latest posts first (as most blogs are); once a post is backdated, it will no longer be shown in the home page.

How do you do this? If you're publishing a new post and want to hide it, look for the "Schedule" option on the right side of the post editor and click on "Set date and time". Choose a previous date on the calendar, click 'Done' and Save the post, then go back to your blog's home page to check if the post has disappeared.

backdate post, schedule blogger post

The same process applies if you want to hide an older post; the only difference is that you need to click on the post's title in the dashboard to open it in the editor. Backdate the post using the steps above and save it, then open your blog to verify that the post is indeed hidden from view.

Please note that this process will only hide your posts from the homepage. People will still be able to see them if they'd take the time to go through your blog posts from the previous years. This is also the case for those who'd come across your hidden blog post through search engines.

Hide Blog Posts in Blogger Using Code

Another thing you can do to hide a blog post is to edit its code. This is a bit complicated since one small mistake can affect the post structure and make it unreadable. This, in turn, can affect your readers' experience as they browse through your site and even have a negative effect on your search engine optimization techniques. With this in mind, it's important to be careful when dealing with code.

Method 1: Hide Blogger Post Using the Post's label

There are two techniques to choose from, and one of them involves the label of the blog post you want to hide. If you're ready to go ahead with this method, you'll first need to make a backup of your template. Having a backup is important since it ensures you'll have a copy to fall back on in case something goes wrong.

Once you've backed up the template, go to "Templates", click on "Edit HTML" and then click anywhere inside the code area -> press CTRL + F keys and search for this line:
<b:include data='post' name='post'/>
Once you've found it, replace it with this code:
<b:if cond='data:blog.url == data:blog.homepageUrl'>
<b:loop values='data:post.labels' var='label'>
        <b:if cond='data:label.isLast == "true"'>
            <b:if cond='data:label.name != "add label here"'>
                <b:include data='post' name='post' />
            </b:if>
        </b:if>
    </b:loop>
<b:else/>
    <b:include data='post' name='post' />
</b:if>
Note: replace the text "add label here" with the label (case sensitive) of the blog post that you want to hide in Blogger homepage. Keep in mind that above code won't work if you have multiple labels on that post, so please make sure the post has only 1 label.

Important: every post that you want to show on the homepage should have at least one label otherwise they will not be visible because the b:loop statement won't be executed for them.

Finally, Save the changes by pressing the 'Save template' button on the upper left side of the editor, then view your blog to check if the blog post has been hidden.

Method 2: Hide Blogger Post Using the Post's ID Number

Aside from the method above, you can use another technique that involves the post ID number of the blog post you'd like to hide. To know the ID number, you must go to the dashboard area, find the title of the post you want to hide, and click the "Edit" text link below it. Doing this will open the post in the Blogger editor.

Once you're in the editor, click on the address bar above and go to the end part of the URL. Here, you'll see a line of text that looks like this: postID==, followed by a long string of numbers. This is your post's ID number. The ID number usually contains 19 numbers, so it will look somehow like this: postID==1234567890123456789. Copy this ID since you'll need it for the next step.

hide blogger post using id

When you have your blog post's ID, open the Blogger dashboard, go to Template, and click "Edit HTML". Search for this line:
<div class='post hentry uncustomized-post-template' itemscope='itemscope' itemtype='http://schema.org/BlogPosting'>
Replace it with this one:
<div class='post hentry uncustomized-post-template' expr:id='&quot;post-&quot; + data:post.id' itemprop='blogPost' itemscope='itemscope' itemtype='http://schema.org/BlogPosting'>
Note: if you found two occurrences of it, replace both of them.

Now search for this tag:
</head>

Once you find it, paste the following code above it:
<b:if cond='data:blog.url == data:blog.homepageUrl'>
<style type='text/css'>
#post-1234567890123456789{display:none;}
</style>
</b:if>

Don't forget to replace "1234567890123456789" with the 19-digit ID number of the blog post you'd like to hide. Once you're done, make sure to save the template. You can open your blog in another tab or browser to check if the post has indeed been hidden.

That's it!

Whether you backdate your post or opt for the post ID method, you have to remember that the blog post you've hidden is still on your website. This means that it will still be indexed by search engines, show up on search engine results, and get found by people who are searching for the keywords that are present in the post. If you really want this blog post to be seen by no one, you'll need to use robots.txt (for Google) to remove it from search results. Better yet, completely delete the post from your Blogger dashboard and just keep a soft copy of it in your computer.

Saturday, 5 September 2015

How to Add a Gadget Above the Header in Blogger

Blogger's Dashboard feature allows users to adjust the appearance of their blog with a few clicks of the mouse. Within the Dashboard, there is a " Layout " feature which lets bloggers add Gadgets such as RSS feeds, traffic counters, embedded media to their sites, adding beautiful widgets, showing notifications, pictures, etc.

Mainly by default in Blogger "Layout", you can see several places to add a Gadget. Such as:-

Right below the Title and above the posts, The Sidebars, The Footer, etc.

It is easy to identify them because all of them have a big linked title yelling " Add a Gadget ". Click on the link and you can choose the gadgets you want to add. After adding them, you can drag and rearrange them. You can also drag one from the side bar to the footer, above the post, below the post, etc.

Now, by editing your Blog's HTML code, you can allow for the addition of a Gadget above the header. Let's see some steps adding " Add a Gadget " icon above the header of your Blog.

Adding a Gadget Above the Header in Blogger

Step-1. Log into your Blogger account. Once logged in, you will be transported to your Dashboard.
Step-2. Select "Template", then click "Edit HTML".
Step-3. Scroll through the HTML code within the text box and locate this fragment:
<div id="header-wrapper">
Or you can press Ctrl+F and search below;
<div class="header-wrapper">
Step-4. Now you will find the detailed fragment. Just beneath the line <<div class='header-wrapper'> you will see below;


<b:section class='header' id='header' maxwidgets='1' showaddelement='no'> 
From above change maxwidgets='1' to maxwidgets='5'.
Step-5. Just next to maxwidgets - in showaddelement='no', change 'no' to 'yes'.
Step-6. This is an important step - Hit the "Save" button, lol.
Step-7. After saving return to your Dashboard. Select "Layout". Above your header, there will be a link titled "Add a Gadget". Click this and add the Gadget of your choice.
Step-8. Save your changes and view your blog to ensure the widget was added correctly.

Hope this tutorial helped you. If you like our posts, share to your friends and comment below if you have any concern. Do not forget to subscribe us.

Enjoy !

Sunday, 23 August 2015

How to Add Contact Form on a Blogger/Blogspot BLOG

If you have a BLOG/WEBSITE, it is very important that you should have a CONTACT page on it. It is how visitors, brands, and companies can reach you and it’s something that every blogger should have. If sharing your email address on your blog is not your cup of tea, a contact form can serve as an easy way for others to get in touch.

If you do go the route of using a contact form, we do suggest that you also include an email address on the Contact page as well. You can set one up specifically for your blog if you don’t want your personal email address to be seen. The reason we believe this is so important to offer both options is because most brands and companies will not fill out a contact form to contact you. They usually want to email you through their own email client and add you to their contacts.
To add a Contact Form to Blogger/Blogspot can be done with a few coding tweaks. Blogger/Blogspot actually offers a Free Contact Form for your blog, unfortunately they’ve made it as a Gadget and placed it on the Layout page so that it is added to your sidebar. It is shown below;

Not the ideal place for a contact form, if you ask us ! It should be situated on its own page. Here is how our contact form looks like - BLOGGER ADDICT's Contact Us Form.

So we would like to show you how to set it up in following simple Steps;

Adding a Contact Form to Blogger:

Step 1. – First, go to the Layout page in Blogger and click an Add a Gadget link. From the popup, choose More Gadgets in the sidebar and then select Contact Form and add it. It doesn’t matter where it ends up in your sidebar right now, since we are going to modify that and make it look nice!


Step-2. Now, visit your Dashboard to the left, Template >> Edit HTML page.

Click inside of the editor text area and press CTRL+F (CMD+F on a Mac) and in the search bar type ContactForm then hit enter.

It should find the code below. Click the black down arrow to the left of:

<b:widget id='ContactForm1' locked='false' title='Contact Form' type='ContactForm'>
then click the down arrow again beside:

<b:includable id='main'>
if they are not already open.

Step-3. You will see this code:

<b:includable id='main'>
 
<b:if cond='data:title != &quot;&quot;'>
    <h2 class='title'><data:title/></h2>
  </b:if>
  <div class='contact-form-widget'>
    <div class='form'>
      <form name='contact-form'>
        <p/>
        <data:contactFormNameMsg/>
        <br/>
        <input class='contact-form-name' expr:id='data:widget.instanceId + &quot;_contact-form-name&quot;' name='name' size='30' type='text' value=''/>
        <p/>
        <data:contactFormEmailMsg/> <span style='font-weight: bolder;'>*</span>
        <br/>
        <input class='contact-form-email' expr:id='data:widget.instanceId + &quot;_contact-form-email&quot;' name='email' size='30' type='text' value=''/>
        <p/>
        <data:contactFormMessageMsg/> <span style='font-weight: bolder;'>*</span>
        <br/>
        <textarea class='contact-form-email-message' cols='25' expr:id='data:widget.instanceId + &quot;_contact-form-email-message&quot;' name='email-message' rows='5'/>
        <p/>
        <input class='contact-form-button contact-form-button-submit' expr:id='data:widget.instanceId + &quot;_contact-form-submit&quot;' expr:value='data:contactFormSendMsg' type='button'/>
        <p/>
        <div style='text-align: center; max-width: 222px; width: 100%'>
          <p class='contact-form-error-message' expr:id='data:widget.instanceId + &quot;_contact-form-error-message&quot;'/>
          <p class='contact-form-success-message' expr:id='data:widget.instanceId + &quot;_contact-form-success-message&quot;'/>
        </div>
      </form>
    </div>
  </div>
  <b:include name='quickedit'/>
</b:includable>
Delete everything shown in red so you should just be left with:

<b:includable id='main'></b:includable>
Step-4. Now, do a new search, this time just look for ]]></b:skin> and paste the below provided code directly before it:

/*CUSTOM CONTACT FORM BY ICANBUILDABLOG.COM */
.contact-form-widget {
margin-left:auto;
margin-right:auto;
width: 600px;
max-width: 100%;
padding: 0px;
color: #000;
}
.fm_name, .fm_email {
float:left;
padding:5px;
width:48%
}
.fm_message {
padding:5px;
}
.contact-form-name, .contact-form-email {
width: 100%;
max-width: 100%;
margin-bottom: 10px;
height:40px;
padding:10px;
font-size:16px;
}
.contact-form-email-message {
width:100%;
max-width: 100%;
height:100px;
margin-bottom:10px;
padding:10px;
font-size:16px;
}
.contact-form-button-submit {
border-color: #C1C1C1;
background: ##f6f6f6;
color: #585858;
width: 20%;
max-width: 20%;
margin-bottom: 10px;
height:30px;
font-size:16px;
}
.contact-form-button-submit:hover{
background: ##f6f6f6;
color: #000000;
border: 1px solid #FAFAFA;
}
Step-5. Save the template then go to Pages to create a new Contact page if you haven’t got one already. In the page editor, switch to HTML mode and paste the following:

<div class="widget ContactForm" id="ContactForm1">
<div class="contact-form-widget">
<div class="form">
<form name="contact-form">
<div class="fm_name">
Your Name:
<input class="contact-form-name" id="ContactForm1_contact-form-name" name="name" size="30" type="text" value="" /></div>
<div class="fm_email">
E-mail Address *:
<input class="contact-form-email" id="ContactForm1_contact-form-email" name="email" size="30" type="text" value="" /></div>
<div style="clear:both">
</div>
<div class="fm_message">
Message *:
<textarea class="contact-form-email-message" cols="25" id="ContactForm1_contact-form-email-message" name="email-message" rows="5"></textarea>
<input class="contact-form-button contact-form-button-submit" id="ContactForm1_contact-form-submit" type="button" value="Submit" />
<div class="contact-form-error-message" id="ContactForm1_contact-form-error-message">
</div>
<div class="contact-form-success-message" id="ContactForm1_contact-form-success-message">
</div>
</div>
</form>
</div>
</div>
</div>
 
Step-6. Save your page and view your new contact form ! It should look like this, you can customize as your own:




Since this uses the Blogger Gadget interface, the emails sent using this form will be sent to the email associated with your account. You can change this email address in the Admin settings of your blog.

We hope this tutorial may have helped you in learning How to Add Contact Form on a Blogger/Blogspot BLOG. Share this tutorial with your friends and don't forget to subscribe us. Enjoy !

Friday, 21 August 2015

How to Recover Deleted BLOG

When you can't recover Deleted Blogger Blog ?

The blogger blog which has been deleted for participating in hacking, malware and spam host can't be recovered.

You can't recover blog if recovery period of 90 days are over.

Accidentally deleted your blogger blog? Don't worry because blogger platform helps you to recover your deleted blog with just one click. All the deleted blogger post,comment, pages event which happens due to bog delete will be undone with just one click.Provided you blogger blog should not be deleted for more then 89 day's because once 90 days of blogger blog deletion period is over then it's impossible to recover your blog. Even the sub domain of your blogspot blog will be deleted from your account and will be available for other blogger to register it.If your delete blogger blog is under recovery period then only you can recover it.
Bloggers are increasing across the world in a huge number in daily basis. Most of the blogs are violating copyrights, Only few blogs are running genuinely. The blogs, Which are running with Copied content, illegal material..etc., will be deleted due to DMCA.

Google only deletes the blogs, which are violating Blogger and DMCA terms permanently without any Notification. Most of the blogs are deleted in a monthly basis, sometimes genuinely and sometimes mistakenly. If you are sure that, your blog is deleted mistakenly, don't worry ! you can recover your blog easily. If your blog is deleted due to copyright violation, your blog will not be back. Be patience, there are several ways to get your blog back, if your blog is deleted mistakenly. Just follow below steps:

Step-1. Contact Blogger Team

Send a counter notice to Blogger team and mention everything about your blog in a peaceful manner. You have to submit your Name, Email, Phone Number, Blog Address (Not custom domain, Provide your blogspot address) and signature in the following form.
Contact Blogger Team

Step-2. Send a Spam Appeal

If you have not received any response by contacting Blogger Team, Then submit an appeal by using this Secret form.
Request Blogger team to take you seriously

Step-3. Post a thread at Blogger Help Forums

Post your appeal in a peaceful manner with exact details at Blogger Help Forums. Click the following link and make a thread there.
Blogger Help Forums

Step-4. Visit Google Customer Service Center

You can consult GCSC (Google Customer Service Center) office located at your local town or city. If you are running your blog officially with huge number of followers, Consult a GCSC office which is located nearer to your area. All GCS Centers across the world are located in the below page.
List of Google Customer Services Centers across the world

Why a Blog Deletes, even though the Blog is running Genuinely ?

Every day, Google receives a big number of DMCA complaint reports. Blogger team verifies their level the best and takes an action against the infringed URL. Some of hackers sends false claims with neat presentations to confuse Blogger team. If blogger team confuses, Then your content will deletes. If you are sure that, Your content is legal, Then you can re-appeal to Blogger team from the mail, Which you receives after the deletion of the content. If your blog receives many false claims at a time and Blogger team confuses, Then your blog will deletes.

So, Blogger giving an opportunity for genuine bloggers to restore their blogs back. Just follow the above steps. If you ran your blog officially, without violating Blogger terms, Your blog will definitely backs.

Doubts ?

After submitting an appeal to Blogger Team, Give at least 24-48 hours to google. If your blog is not restored, Then only go to step 2. Many people restored their little baby without any loss. If your blog is not back from all the three steps, Go to the fourth step. Then you can know the full details. Please note that, Don't make any false claims. That will lead to suspension of your Blogger account!

If you have still any doubts regarding this, Feel free to ask below by adding a comment.

How To Make Blogger Comments Links Do-Follow

Search engines bots always search for links in every web page.When bot found the link, it will follow that link and go there.Then search engines index these links and show there users in results.Search engine bots only search for do-follow links.Search engines don't check no-follow links.Do-follow links in your website or blog means that you are saying to search engines bots that follow the links and index them.We hope now it is clear that what are the no-follow and do-follow links.By default, all links in blogger blog are no-follow.No-follow attribute is used for low quality links that you would not like to index them in search engines.Today we are going to show you how to change blogger blogs comments links no-follow attribute to do-follow.But before making your blog do-follow, you should know the pros and cons of having do-follow comment section.
If your blog have do-follow comment section, your blog will be called a do-follow blog.That means do-follow directories will add your blog into their list.Your blog can get lots of backlinks and traffic from do-follow directories.

You blog comments also increase because of some backlinks lovers.Having more comments in your blog is good for your blog reputation.

Having relevant links to blog niche can make your blog page rank better.

Disadvantages Of Making Do-Follow Comment Section:

Do-follow links means you are sharing your blog page rank juice with others.If quality of links in your comments are bad, your blog page rank will be affected.

Some spammers can fill up your comment section with spammy links.So, you have to give lots of your time to manage your blog comments.

How To Make Blogger Comments Links Do-Follow OR How To Make A Blogger Blog Do-Follow:

Login to your blogger.com account and go to Your Blog Dashboard>>Templates>>Edit HTML.

After that search for the following code in your blog HTML[ Use Ctrl+F to search].

<a expr:href='data:comment.authorUrl' rel='nofollow'><data:comment.author/></a>



From the above code remove rel='nofollow' or replace it with rel='dofollow'.Now your code looks something like below code.

<a expr:href='data:comment.authorUrl' rel='dofollow'><data:comment.author/></a>

Now save your template by clicking on save template button.

That's it, now your blog comment section comments are do-follow.

Note : Please read the pros and cons before making your blog do-follow.

Congratulation, you have successfully made you blog do-follow.We recommend you to keep your blog comments no-follow but if you want to make it do-follow, you can make it final decision is yours.Please share your suggestions,ideas and problems below in comments.And please share this article with your social friends.

How to install Google Analytics on a Blogger blog


Google Analytics (GA) is a free service that generates detailed statistics about the traffic and visitors to a website or blog. In addition to the usual traffic metrics ( page views, visits, unique visitors, bounce rate, time on site, etc. ). Google Analytics also provides comprehensive statistics on blog/website audience, traffic sources, content, keywords and more.

Adding Google Analytics to a Blogger blog is easy, and it doesn't even involve copy-pasting JavaScripts.

Creating an Account with Google Analytics:

Step-1. Go to Google Analytics, click the Sign-Up Now link on top right corner of the page and sign in to your Google Account.

Step-2. On the page, click the Sign Up button.

Step-3. Next supply all the necessary details; like, account name, blog URL you wish to track, time zone, data sharing preferences, and your country or territory.


Step-4. Read the terms of service and tick the "Yes, I agree to the above terms and conditions" check box.

Step-5. Click Create Account button and you will be taken to Tracking Code Configuration Tab.

Step-6. The next step is to find the Web Property ID (a.k.a UA number) - a Unique ID given to the account which you have created. Disregard all other items in the tabs provided, the only thing you need is the UA number.


Step-7. Copy the UA number as you will need to paste it later on.

Installing Google Analytics on your blog:

This is a two-step process. First you need to register the Web Property ID with Blogger, and then import the tracking code into your template.

Now let just start how to add Google Analytics ID to your Blog -

Step-1. If you are using the new Blogger interface, click the dropdown menu next to the name of your blog you wish to track and navigate to settings >> Other >> Google Analytics. (For old interface, go to Settings >> Basic >> Google Analytics Web Property ID).


Step-2. Paste the previous copied UA number into the Google Analytic Web Property ID text box as shown above screenshot.

Step-3. Now, click Save settings, you are done.

Adding your Tracking code:

The following <include> tag will import your GA tracking code into your blog:

<b:include name='google-analytics' data='blog'/>

If you are using a latest Layout or Dynamic Views template from Template Designer gallery, you can skip the following steps because it already has the <include> tag built-in. The same applies to mobile templates.

But if you are using older Layout template or a third party template you might need to add it into your template manually. Here is how you can do:

Step-1. Go to Template >> Edit HTML (For old interface it's Design >> Edit HTML) and locate the </body> tag.

Step-2. Insert the code right above the tag (if the code isn't already there).

Step-3. Save your template.

It could take 24 hours before your first data to appear in your account. This is because Google Analytics updates reports every 24 hours. Come back to Google Analytics Dashboard the next day and if everything is in order you will see your stats !

If you like our post, just subscribe us. Enjoy !

How To Start A Niche Blog (And Why You Should)?

You can divide all blogs into two categories: lifestyle blogs and niche blogs.

These categories represent two conscious decisions that bloggers can make: I'm going to write about everything, or I'm going to write about one thing.

Niche blogs are when you write about one thing, and one thing only. They are a blog with a one-track mind, having one purpose, one goal.

Why in the world would you ever consider something as unfun as a niche blog ? Because niche blogging is where real traction and traffic happen for a blog.

Why you should start a Niche Blog ?

As a blog reader I like variety, but when it comes to save a blog's RSS feed in Feedly for reading and sharing later, I much prefer niche blogs.



Niche blogs save me time. They fit into a specific category and I know that when I want to read on a certain topic, the posts will stay true to the category. I will find content on the topic I'm looking for and nothing else.

For lifestyle blogs, I end up dumping them into a category I call "Random Interesting" (yes, I really call it that) and I only venture in there when I have time to kill. It's not that I don't enjoy reading those blogs (I actually do), but when I am pressed for time I don't always have the option to shift through content to find something that might be useful in the moment. I turn to categories that I know it will give me what I'm looking for.

In other words, when it comes time to share content, niche blogs are the workhorse readers turn to.

That's great that niche blogs give me, the content curator, an easier day. But what benefits do you, the blogger, get from a niche blog ?



1. Niche Blogs Keep You On Track:

Focus is hard enough when you blog. This is especially true on days when you don't have ideas and are tempted to write about your favorite sports team just this one time. When you have a defined niche, it's pretty easy to say "no, the NFL doesn't have anything to do with my pastry blog."

By knowing the specific topic you are writing about, you actually have more tools available to help get you out of an idea rut. Techniques to break writer's block, like brainstorming or a headline storm, are easier when you have boundaries that define where you should operate. Let's consider an example of how the two compare.

" I have a lifestyle blog and I can't think of anything to write about. "
  • Has anything interesting happened to me lately ? 
  • Have I observed anything interesting about life in general I think people might like to hear about ? 
  • Have I read anything lately that caught my attention that I could write about for my readers ? 
" I have a niche blog about shoes, and I can't think of anything to write about. "
  • I can go to my RSS reader and get ideas on my niche topic that are trending right now. 
  • I can see which of my old posts are most popular and repurpose them. 
  • I can do Google keyword research on shoe-related phrases.I can set up a Google Alert on different shoe-related topics.
Neither the lifestyle blog or niche blog is " better ", but a niche blog has more concrete methods of finding ideas because the topic is restricted. Narrow boundaries keep you from weaving all over the place.

2. Niche Blogs Give You A Reliable Audince:

I have several personal blogs; a few are niche and a few are without boundaries whatsoever. My main blog is mainly personal, and I'll write on any topic that strikes my fancy. My core readers are those who connect with my personality and as an individual, and not with a specific topic. While that is valid, it isn't a reliable audience that you can build a huge email list or serious traffic on (unless you're already famous). The average blogger isn't generally going to be a mini-star with a huge following that clings to them no matter what they write.

A great example is a viral blog post I had recently. The topic of the posts was on food and health, and I picked up a lot email subscribers who were interested in that topic. The next week's email came out and most of those subscribers went away. Why ? Because they thought I was a food blog, and that's what they wanted.

A niche blog will give you an audience that you understand, and that understands you. They are less prone to churn.

3. Niche Blogs Make It Easier To Monetize Your Blog:

Perhaps you've decided you'll use advertising on your blog to earn income. Once again, niche blogs for the win.

If your blog is about everything, what ads will you sell ? It'll be hit and miss to guess what ads will actually be the most successful. You don't know which topic makes your audience show up and read and therefore, you don't know which ads will interest them. It's also a hard sell to advertisers. They want to know what your blog is about. How do you sell an ad when your blog is "about me" ?

The same can be said for ebooks, training, and other items that people use to make money through a blog. How will you choose a topic for an ebook, or training, and know that your readers will buy it, if you're not writing a niche blog ? You have no idea what they'd spend money on or like to learn. All you know is that they are willing to come to your blog to hear your random thoughts on all kinds of topics for free.

4. Niche Blogs Expand Your Own Knowledge:

Blogs that aren't niche blogs don't generally do in-depth coverage on a particular topic. Their lifeblood is the variety, and sometimes topic coverage is a bit like skipping stones. Each post glances at the surface of the topic and then moves on to the next topic.

Niche blogs, however, encourage in-depth coverage of topics. They have to. You're only writing about one specific topic and you'll naturally dig in deeper and cover details as much as you can because there isn't another topic to bounce on to.

For example, if you have a food blog, you wouldn't write just one blog post about whether you should use cold or room temp butter for making a cake and call it done, never to revisit butter temperature again. Instead, you might do a series on how to properly use butter, and that might lead you to do features on more individual ingredients and how they affect your baking.

With niche blogs, you don't have to come up with 1000 new ideas. You can start with three and approach them from every angle possible before moving on. A niche blog allows you to do that, but on a general lifestyle blog, you are just going to be seen as strangely obsessive about butter.

How To Start A Niche Blog

The difference between starting a niche blog and any other blog isn't particularly magical or unusual.

It involves research and planning before you jump in and start writing. It involves more than just the decesion to "start a blog". It requires you to decide to "start a blog about ___". If you are looking for your niche blog to bring in money, you will want to be even more conscientious in your selection of a niche topic.

1. Know Your Passion

If you hate vegetables, deciding to write a niche blog about vegetables is a terrible idea. Even if you like vegetables well enough, it still might not be enough. Remember, you are going to be writing heavily about a very focused topic. That's going to be difficult enough. At least make it easy on yourself and have a serious passionate and interest in your niche.

Otherwise, it's going to be a very short-lived blog.

2. Decide On Short Or Long Term

Trend niche blogs won't last, but they can be profitable for a while.

For example, your niche blog might capitalize on a TV show or movie. Once the show is no longer on the air, or the movie buzz has faded, your blog won't be the traffic horse it once was. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. As long as you know, going in, that you are going to be in a bit of a pressure cooker to build traffic quickly, and are ready to capitalize on absolutely every last drop of it before it fades, go ahead. It's the way your entire blog exists by capitalizing on a trend.

3. Decide If And How You Will Monetize Your Site

Perhaps you are writing your niche blog for the absolute love of the topic and don't care about bringing in money. Fair enough. Most people create a niche blog in the hopes of bringing in money, because niche blogs are uniquely able to handle advertising and affiliate marketing very well.

Let's say you do want to use affiliate marketing. You will need to pick a niche topic where good affiliate marketing programs and products are available, and you'll get paid a decent commission. You will need to research available affiliate programs and find a reputable one that fits what you need best.

Or may be you want to use advertising. Again, you will need a blog whose topic attracts a specific audience that has advertisers eager to market to them. And, you will need to build up traffic to a certain level before some advertising programs will even consider your blog.

Remember to comply with the FTC and disclose on your blog if you decide to use affiliate marketing or paid reviews.

4. Find Your Keyword Niche

You have decided you will write about coffee for your niche blog. But "coffee" is still pretty broad-are you talking about growing coffee? roasting coffee? brewing coffee? fair trade coffee? coffee culture? buying coffee? cooking with coffee? You need to find specific keywords if you want niche blog to bring in money and traffic.

Google's Keyword Planner is the most popular tool, and even though there is no shortage of blog posts telling you how to find the best keywords, you might consider Google's own instructions on using Keyword Planner, too.

Which site will be easier to target with affiliate marketing, advertising, and keywords: A niche blog about photography, or a niche blog about Nikon cameras? Sometimes the extreme niche blog is the way to go when you are looking to monetize your site and find precise keywords that do the heavy lifting. When it comes to traffic and monetizing your blog, the more focused your audience is, the better.

5. Tighten Up Your Current Blog

May be your current blog went off track and became a blog about everything. How do you turn your blog into niche blog?
  • Look at your categories. You will notice that a blog off track often has category and tag bloat. Which category do you seem to write in the most? That's a good hint at where your passion and interest for blogging lies. 
  • Look at your stats. Which of your posts tend to get the most traffic? This is an indicator of why people come to your blog, and it is also an indicator of a post that has done well in search. Dissect the post. What's the topic? How did you write it? What brings the search engines? Make more posts like this on the most popular topic. 
  • Do some pruning. You might consider removing posts that are completely off-topic. If you absolutely must write on more than one topic, why not start a personal blog elsewhere and rehab your current blog into a niche blog? If your blog has been around a while, build on that traffic and following while you regain focus as a niche. 
  • Resist that spontaneous post. If you catch yourself feeling like you just have to post a photo and story about your dog and the cute thing he did today, stop. Don't put it on your blog. That is more appropriate for social media, or your personal lifestyle blog. Again, if you must have this outlet, create a personal blog to do it on. Keep your niche blog purely on topic, always. 
Don't give up on a wayward blog. Even if you haven't stayed on topic over the years, it's not too late to start. Decide today that you will have a niche blog and get that mindset in place.

Ready, Get Set....Go !

A niche blog is a purposeful blog, one that has a specific reason for existing. If you can't envision writing at least 100 articles on your chosen topic, it may not be the route to go. But a niche blog isn't some kind of joyless thing. It is exciting to watch what happens to your blog when you are purposeful about content and audience.

Not sure if you can be a niche blogger?

If you must have the freedom to write about other things outside of your niche, by all means, keep a personal blog or use your Google+ profile to be that outlet.