More than twenty days have gone since August 1st. I am very glad that the Adsense in this blog give me more than $5. Although it is not much, it is the best result since I used Adsense. Adsense gave me dreams before, now I hope the dreams will come true.
Up to now, I have got 12 clicks from this blog in August. A strange thing is that all the clicks are from the right sidebar instead of the big rectangle below every article. I thought the big rectangle would give me more income. But it seems that I was wrong.
I know to get more income, I should to get more traffic. I think the value of a blog not only depends on its traffic but also its contents. Providing useful information is the most important thing. So I should put my heart into writing better contents. Several days ago I posted a thread on DigitalPoint that said I wanted to earn $10/month with Adsense. I believe it is not just a dream any more.
Showing posts with label Blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blog. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Integrating Adsense into Blogger (for Experts)
Blogger is a famous free blog service provider (BSP). It belongs to Google.com. Although it is free to use, you can use Adsense on you blog to make money. Inserting adsense is very easy. But sometimes we need more. For example, I want to show a 468 x 60 banner above the first article in the index page or achive pages. But I don't want it to be shown in a single post page. Moreover, I want to show another 468 x 60 banner below the article in each single post page only, but it won't appear in the index page or achive pages, etc. See below:
So the simple way won't work. How to solve it?
First we need some software tools. What I will use are Firefox, Firebug extension for Firefox, a text editor (Notepad++). That's all. Now let's begin.
Go to your Blogger -> Layout -> Edit HTML. Download the full template and use your editor to open it. Then use Firefox to visit your blog. Enable Firebug (right click its icon and make sure "Disable Firebug" isn't selected). Then click the icon and you can see the its interface. Click "Inspect" button (top left), and move your mouse on the webpage to find the right HTML code segment. Here's the screenshot.
I used Firebug to find out that the main content is located in a "div" whose id is "content". Then open your editor to find <div id='content'>. Add these lines after it:
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "item"'>
<div id='index_banner'>
<b:section id='index-banner-only' locked='false' preferred='yes'>
</b:section>
</div>
</b:if>
Save and upload it. Then go to Layout -> Page Elements. You will see a new "Add a Page Element" above the blog posts area. You can add an Adsense banner. This banner won't appear in any single post page.
Now let's add the article page ads. In the same way, use Firebug to find the right HTML code. And then search it in your text editor. Or you can search for "<data:post.body/>". data:post.body stands for the content text. Add these lines below it:
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
your adsense code
</b:if >
Because I want to add Adsense below the article, just add Adsense code below it. But it won't work. You must use Ad Code Converter to convert your Adsense code, and then put it into your template.
OK. Now save your template and upload it. Go to "Page Elements" panel to add an Adsense banner. This banner will only display in the index page and archive pages, etc. It won't display in a single post page. However, if you open a single page, the ads below the content will appear.
PS: I think this trick will increase the Adsense CTR.
So the simple way won't work. How to solve it?
First we need some software tools. What I will use are Firefox, Firebug extension for Firefox, a text editor (Notepad++). That's all. Now let's begin.
Go to your Blogger -> Layout -> Edit HTML. Download the full template and use your editor to open it. Then use Firefox to visit your blog. Enable Firebug (right click its icon and make sure "Disable Firebug" isn't selected). Then click the icon and you can see the its interface. Click "Inspect" button (top left), and move your mouse on the webpage to find the right HTML code segment. Here's the screenshot.
I used Firebug to find out that the main content is located in a "div" whose id is "content". Then open your editor to find <div id='content'>. Add these lines after it:
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "item"'>
<div id='index_banner'>
<b:section id='index-banner-only' locked='false' preferred='yes'>
</b:section>
</div>
</b:if>
Save and upload it. Then go to Layout -> Page Elements. You will see a new "Add a Page Element" above the blog posts area. You can add an Adsense banner. This banner won't appear in any single post page.
Now let's add the article page ads. In the same way, use Firebug to find the right HTML code. And then search it in your text editor. Or you can search for "<data:post.body/>". data:post.body stands for the content text. Add these lines below it:
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
your adsense code
</b:if >
Because I want to add Adsense below the article, just add Adsense code below it. But it won't work. You must use Ad Code Converter to convert your Adsense code, and then put it into your template.
OK. Now save your template and upload it. Go to "Page Elements" panel to add an Adsense banner. This banner will only display in the index page and archive pages, etc. It won't display in a single post page. However, if you open a single page, the ads below the content will appear.
PS: I think this trick will increase the Adsense CTR.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Get Traffic to My Blog
Traffic is the life of a website or a blog. I have been thinking of how to get more traffic to my blog these days. I don't like many people's advice, such as submitting my blog to many directory sites or sending lots of links to forums and so on. I'm not good at it. Since I like programming and I am good at web programming or software. Why could I use my advantages to reach the goal? Just now I found an e-book called 77 Ways to Get Traffic. I think some ideas are so good.
- Join Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a very successful website and it has much traffic. Especially, anyone can edit it. Althought Wikipedia don't allow anyone to submit spam likes. Fortunately my blog and articles are related to some wikipedia items, I can add the links into the "external links" section. But be careful, don't add spam links.
- Develop some software. I can make some shareware and freeware and I can add my site link to the software. I believe, by this way, more and more people will know me.
- Make some playful plugins or gadgets. This method is similar to the above one. But plugins or gadgets are much easier to develop. For example, I can make some WordPress plugins and Google gadgets. I think this is a wonderful thing because I like programming and the more people use my software, the more I am excited.
- Contribute to some professional websites. Many technology websites accept users' contribution, for example, CodeGuru and CodeProject. I think it is acceptable that put my website's link in the end of my article.
- Submit some posts to the shareing website, such as Digg or Del.icio.us. I have used it for nearly a month. But unfortunately, the effect doesn't seem good. I think it is more suitable for the websites who have much traffic already.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Integrating ShareThis into Blogger
Look at the end of each post. I integrated "ShareThis" button into my blog this morning. "ShareThis" is a bookmark widget for bloggers. It can make your visitors share your contents more easily. Now let me tell you how to integrate it into your blog hosted by Blogger.com.
Click here to get the code. It advises you to create an account. But it is not necessary. If you want to obtain the code only, just click "No Thanks" button. Then you can custom the button's appearance. I think the default is not bad for me. So I skipped this step and click the "Get ShareThis Code" button. You'd better copy the code to your favourite editor so that you can use it after a while.
Go to your Blogger administration panel and open "Layout" tab. Then click "Edit HTML" and check "Expand Widget Templates". See below:
Add the code in <head>...</head>. It's better to use HTML comment to mark the code.
Search for "<data:post.body>" in the template. Add the code below following it:
<p>
<script language='javascript' type='text/javascript'>
SHARETHIS.addEntry({
title: '<data:post.title/>',
url: '<data:post.url/>'
}, {button:true} );
</script>
</p>
That's OK. The function "SHARETHIS.addEntry" will create an instance, i.e. the ShareThis button. "title" and "url" are two useful arguments. They specify the post URL and the title. If they are omitted, the current URL and the HTML title are used instead. <data:post.title/> and <data:post.url/> are the Blogger template tags. They stand for the post's title and its permanent URL. If you want to know more about "ShareThis" API, please see the manual.
Click here to get the code. It advises you to create an account. But it is not necessary. If you want to obtain the code only, just click "No Thanks" button. Then you can custom the button's appearance. I think the default is not bad for me. So I skipped this step and click the "Get ShareThis Code" button. You'd better copy the code to your favourite editor so that you can use it after a while.
Go to your Blogger administration panel and open "Layout" tab. Then click "Edit HTML" and check "Expand Widget Templates". See below:
Add the code in <head>...</head>. It's better to use HTML comment to mark the code.
Search for "<data:post.body>" in the template. Add the code below following it:
<p>
<script language='javascript' type='text/javascript'>
SHARETHIS.addEntry({
title: '<data:post.title/>',
url: '<data:post.url/>'
}, {button:true} );
</script>
</p>
That's OK. The function "SHARETHIS.addEntry" will create an instance, i.e. the ShareThis button. "title" and "url" are two useful arguments. They specify the post URL and the title. If they are omitted, the current URL and the HTML title are used instead. <data:post.title/> and <data:post.url/> are the Blogger template tags. They stand for the post's title and its permanent URL. If you want to know more about "ShareThis" API, please see the manual.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
New Template
According to some suggestions, I changed the template of this blog today. Some people told me that I should use a distinct template instead of Blogger default ones. Also, they told me that it's better to buy a domain. I don't plan to do it. Although a domain costs only about $10/year. I don't think it is necessary.
This template is called Langit and found in eblog templates. There are many beautiful templates. At first I wanted to use Blogging Pro but it has some problems on post page. I don't know how to solve it. So I decided to use Langit. According to the document I added my Adsense code. I feel it is very appropriate for Adsense. The 336 x 280 ad unit on the right side looks good and I hope it will give me more clicks!
After that I configured FeedBurner of the template. So now the feed is hosted by FeedBurner. You can subscribe it through any RSS reader or Email. Just click the RSS logo on the right. I don't want to add "DiggThis" button since I found Digg cannot give me more traffic. The best and easiest way to get more traffic is to make Google to love it. But up to now, Google has indexed about 20 pages of this blog. There is no visitor from Google... But I think it will be better and better if I won't give up.
Thank the guys from Digital Point who gave me advice, encouragement and feedback.
This template is called Langit and found in eblog templates. There are many beautiful templates. At first I wanted to use Blogging Pro but it has some problems on post page. I don't know how to solve it. So I decided to use Langit. According to the document I added my Adsense code. I feel it is very appropriate for Adsense. The 336 x 280 ad unit on the right side looks good and I hope it will give me more clicks!
After that I configured FeedBurner of the template. So now the feed is hosted by FeedBurner. You can subscribe it through any RSS reader or Email. Just click the RSS logo on the right. I don't want to add "DiggThis" button since I found Digg cannot give me more traffic. The best and easiest way to get more traffic is to make Google to love it. But up to now, Google has indexed about 20 pages of this blog. There is no visitor from Google... But I think it will be better and better if I won't give up.
Thank the guys from Digital Point who gave me advice, encouragement and feedback.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Blogging Tool: Windows Live Writer
Windows Live Writer is a blog writing tool. It provides a powerful editing environment, like a simple MS Word. You can use it to write on your own computer and after finishing a post just click the publish button. The post will be published.
Since I'm living in China and China blocks all the blogs on blogspot.com sometimes (may be always), so Windows Live Writer cannot connect to the Internet. That's boring.
Here is a screenshot:
PS: Windows Live Writer can only run in Windows XP or above and need .net framework 2.0 support.
How to Change WordPress Login Name?
Here, 'WordPress' refers to the one you own host, not the one BSP provides.
After setting up WordPress, it produces an administrator 'admin'. You can use it to login. But probably you want to change it into another one. You cannot find any options in WordPress management panel. How to do it? The easiest way is to change it in database directly.
Use phpMyAdmin (or another MySQL management tool) to open 'wp_users' table in WordPress database. You can see an 'admin' record. Change 'user_login' field into a name you want. That's OK. For alternatives, you can execute SQL query directly:
use wordpress; -- 'wordpress' is the name of WordPress database
update wp_users set user_login='name you want' where user_login='admin';
After that, you can use the new name to login your WordPress.
After setting up WordPress, it produces an administrator 'admin'. You can use it to login. But probably you want to change it into another one. You cannot find any options in WordPress management panel. How to do it? The easiest way is to change it in database directly.
Use phpMyAdmin (or another MySQL management tool) to open 'wp_users' table in WordPress database. You can see an 'admin' record. Change 'user_login' field into a name you want. That's OK. For alternatives, you can execute SQL query directly:
use wordpress; -- 'wordpress' is the name of WordPress database
update wp_users set user_login='name you want' where user_login='admin';
After that, you can use the new name to login your WordPress.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Integrate "DiggThis" with Blogger
As you can see, there is a 'Digg' button on each post. To integrate 'Digg' button with Blogger, you need to modify the template. Goto your blogger's panel, then open 'Layout' -> 'Edit HTML'. Check the 'Expand Widget Templates' checkbox, then you can see the whole template. I suggest you to copy it to your favourite text editor, such as Notepad++. It makes you easier to search and modify the HTML template.
Find this line: <div class='post-body entry-content'>. Add the javascript code below after this line:
<b:if cond='data:post.url'>
<p style="float: right;margin: 4px;">
<script type="text/javascript">
digg_url = '<data:post.url/>';
digg_window = 'new';
digg_title = '<data:post.title/>';
digg_topic = 'programming';
</script>
<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</p>
</b:if>
Now let me explain. style="float: right;margin: 4px;" is CSS code. It specifies Digg button should appear on the right side and the width of the space between the button and text around is 4 pixels. digg_url = '<data:post.url/>'; sets the URL of each post. If you don't set this variable, Digg button will be attached to the current URL, not the post's URL. digg_window = 'new'; means when the button is pressed, the browsing will open a new window to open digg.com. The next two variables are useful for submitting a post. They specify the default title and the default topic, but users can change them manually.
OK. After you finish it, click 'Save Template' to save the template. You will see a Digg button in every post.
Find this line: <div class='post-body entry-content'>. Add the javascript code below after this line:
<b:if cond='data:post.url'>
<p style="float: right;margin: 4px;">
<script type="text/javascript">
digg_url = '<data:post.url/>';
digg_window = 'new';
digg_title = '<data:post.title/>';
digg_topic = 'programming';
</script>
<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</p>
</b:if>
Now let me explain. style="float: right;margin: 4px;" is CSS code. It specifies Digg button should appear on the right side and the width of the space between the button and text around is 4 pixels. digg_url = '<data:post.url/>'; sets the URL of each post. If you don't set this variable, Digg button will be attached to the current URL, not the post's URL. digg_window = 'new'; means when the button is pressed, the browsing will open a new window to open digg.com. The next two variables are useful for submitting a post. They specify the default title and the default topic, but users can change them manually.
OK. After you finish it, click 'Save Template' to save the template. You will see a Digg button in every post.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Try Backlinks
I told my friend tonsh to turn on backlinks on her blog. What are backlinks? A quick answer is "backlinks display other webpages that link to your posts". If you turn on backlinks, and if another webpage contains a link to one of your post, you can see a link to that webpage. It is similar to "trackback". Trackback is a method to join different blogs. For example, if you see an interesting article on other's blog and want to post an article about it on your own blog, you can use trackback. Your blog will send a short message to the other's to tell that blog: hey, I'm interested about you, my link's url is ... Then your article's link will appear on his blog.
But blogger.com doesn't support trackback, it uses "backlink" instead. You need only add a link to a post which is on blogger.com in your article. After a while (maybe a few days), a link to your post will appear below his article. Backlink depends on Blogger Search Engine.
Let me try it. Here is a link to one of my friend's posts. When will it appear on the post?
But blogger.com doesn't support trackback, it uses "backlink" instead. You need only add a link to a post which is on blogger.com in your article. After a while (maybe a few days), a link to your post will appear below his article. Backlink depends on Blogger Search Engine.
Let me try it. Here is a link to one of my friend's posts. When will it appear on the post?
Make Money?
I have been browsing DigitalPoint Forums these days. Many people are making money with their websites or blogs. So I'm considering whether I can make some money with this blog.
I've been using Google Adsense, but the effect is not good. Last year I started Adsense but now my account has only $2.16. What a pity! Of course that blog is written in Chinese. Most people think that English content may bring better ads. Last year I planned to write English but I'm afraid my English level. Now I know, no matter how much I will earn, I will be successful, because I can improve my language level and share my experience all over the world.
I registered LinkWorth for my Chinese blog last day. LinkWorth is similar to Text Link Ads and it supports paid reviews and text link ads, etc. Besides, LinkWorth is more appropriate for small blogs. If your site's traffic is small, you should try LinkWorth probably. But I regret that there are few Chinese ads. It doesn't matter, I think. By the way, LinkWorth provides a tool which can evaluate your site's value. I tried it for my Chinese blog. Surprisingly, it told me a link ads on my homepage values $50 - $60. I don't know how it works. Maybe it's just a joke?
PS: If you want to try LinkWorth, please use this link to register and enter 12368 in referral id. So when you earn $100 I will get $50. Thank you.
I've been using Google Adsense, but the effect is not good. Last year I started Adsense but now my account has only $2.16. What a pity! Of course that blog is written in Chinese. Most people think that English content may bring better ads. Last year I planned to write English but I'm afraid my English level. Now I know, no matter how much I will earn, I will be successful, because I can improve my language level and share my experience all over the world.
I registered LinkWorth for my Chinese blog last day. LinkWorth is similar to Text Link Ads and it supports paid reviews and text link ads, etc. Besides, LinkWorth is more appropriate for small blogs. If your site's traffic is small, you should try LinkWorth probably. But I regret that there are few Chinese ads. It doesn't matter, I think. By the way, LinkWorth provides a tool which can evaluate your site's value. I tried it for my Chinese blog. Surprisingly, it told me a link ads on my homepage values $50 - $60. I don't know how it works. Maybe it's just a joke?
PS: If you want to try LinkWorth, please use this link to register and enter 12368 in referral id. So when you earn $100 I will get $50. Thank you.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Blogger.com or WordPress?
I am considering that which is better, Blogger.com or WordPress? Here, "WordPress" doesn't mean wordpress.com, it is the program. In fact, I think that WordPress is the best program for blogging. Besides, Blogger.com is the best BSP. There are lots of plugins for WordPress, so I can extend functions of WordPress easily. Also, maybe I can write some plugin for WordPress to accomplish my goal.
The only bad thing about WordPress is that there are few good free WordPress hosting websites. Almost all WordPress BSPs doesn't support uploading your own plugins. I like WordPress just because of lots of plugins. Otherwise, wordpress.com doesn't put your advertisements such as Google Adsense. But Blogger.com even encourages to use Google Adsense.
Does Google like Blogger.com? I found Google robot visits this blog after a few hours when I publish the first post. That's very soon. Probably, articles on Blogger.com are found more easily than those on other BSPs.
The only bad thing about WordPress is that there are few good free WordPress hosting websites. Almost all WordPress BSPs doesn't support uploading your own plugins. I like WordPress just because of lots of plugins. Otherwise, wordpress.com doesn't put your advertisements such as Google Adsense. But Blogger.com even encourages to use Google Adsense.
Does Google like Blogger.com? I found Google robot visits this blog after a few hours when I publish the first post. That's very soon. Probably, articles on Blogger.com are found more easily than those on other BSPs.
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