How to create a fantastic blog for free

in 30 minutesThis presentation will help you make a blog in just 5

minutes if you’re sitting before a laptop with internet connection and already have a Gmail account.

You will be able to make it ‘fantastic’ in another 25 minutes!

[There are advanced tips at the bottom of some slides. Check them later.]

1. Open an account with Blogger • If you do not have an email account with Gmail, open it and come

back. • Open the Gmail account in the browser.• Open a new tab on the browser. Type this address in the search

box: Blogger.com (or click on this link).• If you have not opened this Blogger account earlier, you might be

prompted to re-enter your password. Enter Gmail password. • You are on the welcome page of Blogger. Do nothing here; just

press the ‘Continue to Blogger’ button at the bottom.

[Some tips on using Blogger’s best features can be seen here.]

2. Give the blog a nice name and address

• On this screen, give a nice Title to the blog. Take care to keep it within 40 characters. The title should reflect these: your name (e.g. John Dayal’s Blog) OR theme (e.g. Yoga Unlimited or Horse Breeding or Singapore Culture Diary or Herbal Beauty House) OR a mix (e.g. Ritu’s Musings).• Give it a web address. Blogger will automatically suffix the address

with .blogspot.com. You just give it a peg that relates to you or your theme or both.

You can change the title as much as you want but the address you give to a blog will be permanent. So choose it with care.

[Some quick tips on choosing domain names here.]

3. Two clicks to finish the blog; then more…• In the same window, click on ‘Simple’

template and click on ‘Create Blog!’. You’ve learnt setting up a blog! • The next screen lists your blog. Click on it. •What you get is called the blog

dashboard. Look at menus: Overview, Posts, Pages …•Click on ‘Posts’ menu. On the new

screen, click on ‘Create a new post’.

MENUs

on blog

dashboard

4. Create your first post• The screen that you get is called Post Editor. It is like MSWord.•Write your first post. Write something about yourself and your

expertise. Write about the motivation behind creating this blog. •When you have written about 200 words, write Post title on top of

the Post Editor, e.g. Welcome, friends, to my blog on …• On the right, look for ‘Labels’. Click on it and write ‘This Blog’ in

the text box. Click on ‘Done’. Click on ‘Publish’ button above it.• You have published your first post. Click on ‘View blog’ on the left

top of the screen and see your blog as it would look to others.

The blog is ready but it is not FANTASTIC yet.

5. Add value to the blog• After Publishing, you are back at the dashboard. From menus,

click on ‘Layout’. You’ll see how different elements are arranged on the blog. Proper layout is a must for good blog design.• Possibly there are two small rectangles already there on the right

side, with captions, ‘About us’ and ‘Blog Archive’. If not, don’t bother. Such elements are called gadgets or widgets.• In the right column, click on ‘Add a Gadget’. In a popup window,

you’ll see over a dozen gadgets. Click on ‘Image’. Think of a great photo on your computer that you’ll like to put on the blog. Click on ‘From your computer:’ and bring the image here. Save.

[Widgets can greatly enhance blog’s beauty or spoil it. Read on.]

6. Add more value• On the Layout screen, click on the same ‘Add a Gadget’. On the

popup window, select ‘Blog List’.• On the new screen, click on ‘Add a blog to your list’. Add the URL

(=web address) of a blog you like. If nothing is handy, put http://indintopblogs.com (You can remove it later.)• Put one or two more URLs there, and save.• Put ‘Labels’ gadget in the same way. Just open the gadget and

save. • On the main screen (Layout), click on ‘Save arrangement’.

[Put labels intelligently. These will help you greatly later. Tips here.]

7. Add still more value• Now click on ‘Template’ menu and, in the new screen, click on

‘customize’.• In the upper left, you’ll see a picture with ‘Live on Blog’ written

under it. This is how your blog looks.• Look at thumbnails with names, e.g. Simple. These are

templates with different color schemes and arrangement of elements. Below these are sub-themes. • Click on each theme and sub-theme and check the preview pane

under them. Decide the best suited one, click on ‘Apply to Blog’ and then go ‘Back to Blogger’.

8. Preview the blog • You have almost finished the work. On

top of the dashboard screen, click on ‘View Blog’ and see your blog!• Examine the blog critically, like a

craftsman would look at his craft for any blemish. Ask yourself, what all you want to add to the blog. Whether to take the right column to the left? Is the color scheme OK? Are the font type and sizes fine? Does ‘About me’ need additional information? And so on.

Many of these

MENUs help you

in making changes

to looks and many

functionalities

on the blog.

9. Fine-tune the blog See if you need to take any of these actions:

• To change font size, text color, color scheme, column width; putting a background image on the entire blog: dashboard> template>customize>advanced• To give a description to the blog: dashboard>settings>description• To move gadgets to other places: dashboard>layout> click on the

element and drag away• To put recent / popular posts in the sidebar: Layout>gadget• To format text in posts, add photos etc: Post editor> see menubar• To add a label to the next post: Post editor>Labels

11. Now on, think only of content

•Write good posts.• Initially update with high frequency. Once you have about 10

posts, sit back and decide what would be the ideal frequency of posting.• Check each post for grammar, spellings and punctuation.• Read each post before clicking on the ‘Publish’ link. If it is a photo

blog, look at each photo for composition, size, dimensions and other aspect before publishing.

[These are some great posts on content, writing and photos.]

Content is what makes a blog bad, good or fantastic

Further help is at your fingertips

• IndianTopBlogs carries expert advice on layout, design, good writing, making the blog popular, search optimisation, putting images on the blog and so on.• For some free tools that are useful for different blogging activities, you can

visit IndianTopBlogs’ section on such tested software tools.• You can submit your blog to IndianTopBlogs for a free blog review, after you

have updated it regularly for a few months. • After 6 months, you can submit the blog for showcasing on IndianTopBlogs.

[Visit http://indiantopblogs.com. Make it your blogging advisor, who won’t charge you a fee and has no hidden agenda in helping you.]

IndianTopBlogs supports good blogging. Take advantage!