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> <channel><title>Five Free Apps &#187; blogger</title> <atom:link href="http://www.fivefreeapps.com/tag/blogger/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /><link>http://www.fivefreeapps.com</link> <description>Covering the Best in Apps &#38; So Much More</description> <lastBuildDate>Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:34:38 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en</language> <sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency> <generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1</generator> <item><title>40 Tips to Become a Blogging Ninja!</title><link>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2010/11/tips-to-become-a-blogging-ninja.html</link> <comments>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2010/11/tips-to-become-a-blogging-ninja.html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Tue, 30 Nov 2010 12:30:00 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Brian Mongold</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[blogger]]></category> <category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category> <category><![CDATA[resources]]></category> <category><![CDATA[tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[wordpress]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.eazycheezy.net/2009/02/tips-to-become-a-blogging-ninja.html</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>I started blogging in September 2008 &#38; it&#8217;s been an amazing journey. My blogging technique and the tools I use to blog has drastically changed over the last two years. Through many successes, there are failures. I&#8217;ve fell on my face quite a few times, was ignorant about blogging &#38; had very little knowledge of [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img
class="size-full wp-image-5922 alignright" title="Tips to become a blogging ninja" src="http://www.eazycheezy.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/bloggingninja.jpg" alt="bloggingninja 40 Tips to Become a Blogging Ninja!" width="170" height="170" />I started blogging in September 2008 &amp; it&#8217;s been an amazing journey. My blogging technique and the tools I use to blog has drastically changed over the last two years. Through many successes, there are failures. I&#8217;ve fell on my face quite a few times, was ignorant about blogging &amp; had very little knowledge of what Blogger, <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">WordPress</span> or any other platforms were or how they worked. I only knew what blogging was from a reader&#8217;s perspective.</p><div
style="text-align: justify;">I&#8217;ve learned so much in my short blogging stint! I truly believe to fully succeed, you must first fail.  Of course how you deal with these challenges will better define your success. As I&#8217;ve made countless mistakes, I&#8217;ve became a much better blogger by working my way through each blunder and applying my knowledge to the site.<span
style="color: #000066; font-size: 130%;"><span
style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></div><div
style="text-align: justify;"><span
style="color: #000066; font-size: 130%;"><span
style="font-weight: bold;">Getting Started With The Basics</span></span></div><p><strong>1. Blog About Your Passion</strong> &#8211; Blog about what interests you the most. Blogging is tough work &amp; it&#8217;s easy to run out of ideas or get bored. If you stick with your passion, you&#8217;ll be able to rediscover that inspiration to post after burnouts or <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">blogger&#8217;s</span> block.</p><p><strong>2. Find your Niche &amp; Target Audience</strong> &#8211; It&#8217;s very easy to lose focus &amp; go too many different directions. My original idea changed from great resources &amp; humor to focusing on great resources. Try these sites for ideas <a
href="http://www.collegeathome.com/blog/2008/06/19/100-useful-niche-search-engines-youve-never-heard-of/">100 Useful Niche Search Engines</a>.</p><p><strong>3. Use a Visually Appealing Design</strong> &#8211; Use a design that will work for you and be appealing to your audience. There are plenty of free and unique blogging themes, regardless of the platform.</p><p><strong>4. Learn All You Can</strong> &#8211; I learn something each day I blog. It may be something minor, but the key is to continually progress. I had no clue about blogging when I started, but have quickly learned from fellow <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">bloggers</span> and sites like <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Problogger</span>, <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">BlogDoctor</span>, Warrior Forums, Digital Point and Authority Blogger.</p><p><strong>5. Be Unique</strong> &#8211; There&#8217;s far too many blogs on the net, so understanding what makes your blog unique is extremely important. I continually assess my site &amp; ask myself what it is that differentiates the site from the rest. This helps me strive to be different. Try interjecting your personality to put a unique spin on your content.</p><p><strong>6. Stay Focused</strong> &#8211; Try to have a central focus that ties in with your site concept.</p><p><strong>7. Use a Traffic Analysis Tool</strong> &#8211; By using a traffic analysis tool, you&#8217;ll be able to analyze your visitors &amp; traffic. This will help you see everything you need about your visitors, top content, trends, etc. I use <a>Google Analytics and Quantcast</a>, which are free tools that accomplishes this goal and then some.</p><p><strong>8. Establish a Posting Schedule</strong> &#8211; Keep readers coming back for more by publishing new content on a schedule. I started blogging &amp; posting 3 or 4 posts a day, which was impossible for me to keep up with with the research I have to put in for each post. I set a posting schedule of 4 to 5 post per week. I also post a weekly &#8220;favorite bookmarks&#8221; entry. Avoid the &#8220;I&#8217;m finally posting again&#8221; type posts.</p><p><strong>9. Don&#8217;t Blog to Make Money</strong> &#8211; When I started blogging, I was in the process of job hunting, I had thoughts of trying to blog full-time &amp; make money, that that just doesn&#8217;t work for a new blog. Rather than destroying my site with annoying ads everywhere, I opted to just shoot for making a return on what I spend on the site. These days, I do just fine with displaying only one AdSense Ad. I prefer to keep it that way, so readers can focus on the content and not annoying ads.</p><p><strong>10. Make People Think</strong> &#8211; I&#8217;m still looking to improve upon this, but by asking interesting questions or posting thought provoking content, it will help to pique further interest, conversation, etc.</p><p><strong>11. Focus on Your Post Titles</strong> &#8211; Which would you rather click to read, &#8220;Sites For Shopping&#8221; or something like &#8220;10 Money Saving Sites <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">That&#8217;ll</span> Knock Your Socks Off&#8221;? Think in terms of article titles you&#8217;d like to read. If your title stinks, your content will go unread. People judge a book by it&#8217;s cover, so give them a flashy cover to make them want to see what&#8217;s inside.</p><p><strong>12. Be Human</strong> &#8211; Show your profile, social networking links, etc. Talk to those who comment &amp; don&#8217;t be afraid to tell readers about yourself. I&#8217;ve attempted to improve this by adding an About Me section &amp; The Story Behind <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">Eazy</span> <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">Cheezy</span>.</p><p><strong>13. Use <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">RSS</span> &amp; Display it Near the Top of Your Site</strong> &#8211; Make your <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-error">RSS</span> easy to find. This gives your readers different methods to obtain your content as it&#8217;s published. Flexibility allows readers to pick the reader of their choice. I recommend using some fancy <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-error">RSS</span> Icons &amp; <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-error">Feedburner</span>, although there are other great options. I noticed by moving my <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-error">RSS</span> to the top, I&#8217;ve increased subscribers.</p><p><strong>14. Submit Your Site to Search Engines &amp; Directories</strong> &#8211; This will help your content show up in search results and to build authority. You can use <a
href="http://bblmedia.com/addurl.html">Add URL</a>, which provides direct Links to Google, Yahoo, <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-error">MSN</span>, etc and <a
href="http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/">Top 55 Best Blog Directories &amp; <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" class="blsp-spelling-error">RSS</span> Submission Sites</a>.</p><p><strong>15. Get a <a
href="http://www.technorati.com/"><span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_17" class="blsp-spelling-error">Technorati</span></a> account &amp; Submit your blog.</strong> <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_18" class="blsp-spelling-error">Technorati</span> is like Google for Blogs. Here&#8217;s my <a
href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5838702650421651181"><span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_19" class="blsp-spelling-error">Technorati</span> Account</a>. <a
href="/?p=70" target="_blank">Learn more about <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_20" class="blsp-spelling-error">Technorati</span></a>.</p><p><strong>16. Post Quality Over Quantity</strong> &#8211; I&#8217;ve heard arguments from both sides, but <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_21" class="blsp-spelling-error">SEO</span> or not, sloppy posts could find people <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_22" class="blsp-spelling-error">unsubscribing</span> &amp; you can lose readers.</p><p><strong>17. Find &amp; Participate in Forums In Your Niche</strong> &#8211; If your niche is something like Career Assistance, you&#8217;d want to participate in discussions at <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_23" class="blsp-spelling-error">LinkedIn</span>, Monster, <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_24" class="blsp-spelling-error">Careerbuilder</span>, etc. You&#8217;ll build relationships with those offering similar services &amp; gain trust in your target audience by helping solve their problem.</p><p><strong>18. Ping directories after each post</strong> &#8211; This will ensure each directly you submitted your blog to catches the <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_25" class="blsp-spelling-error">lates</span> entries. Try <a
href="http://www.pingmyblog.com/index.php"><span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_26" class="blsp-spelling-error">PingMyBlog</span></a>.</p><p><strong>19. Add &#8220;Related Posts&#8221; &amp; &#8220;Popular Posts&#8221;</strong> &#8211; To get more page views &amp; offer relevant content to the reader, add a &#8220;Related Posts&#8221; section below your article with all the relevant links. You can add a Popular Posts section on your site to give easy access to your best and most popular work. I love the <a
href="http://mitcho.com/code/yarpp/" target="_blank">YARPP WordPress Plugin</a>.</p><p><strong>20. Use Images</strong> &#8211; Vector images and graphics are appealing to the eye. A big personal turn-off for me is a site with all text and no pictures. Images can help to enhance the look and feel of your site and posts. Here&#8217;s an amazing resource of <a
href="/?p=166">Free Vector Images</a>.</p><p><strong>21. Use Social Networking &amp; Bookmarking Sites</strong> &#8211; Twitter,  Stumble Upon, <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_29" class="blsp-spelling-error">Facebook</span>, <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_31" class="blsp-spelling-error">LinkedIn</span> &amp; many other social networking sites can bring a significant amount of traffic to your site.</p><p><strong>22. Add Social Networking Badges to Your Site</strong> &#8211; Make it easier for readers to submit or bookmark your content. I recommend <a
href="http://sharethis.com/"><span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_32" class="blsp-spelling-error">ShareThis</span></a>.</p><p><strong>23. Get Involved in Social Networks</strong> &#8211; Rather than just submitting articles, you&#8217;ll probably fail if you don&#8217;t involve yourself in the communities of <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_33" class="blsp-spelling-error">Facebook, Twitter</span>, Stumble Upon, etc. Find other sites in your niche as &amp; take the time to comment. Many blogs who you support will support you as well. You can always further network.</p><p><strong>24. Use Effective Keyword Tags</strong> &#8211; Using effective keywords will help your site appear when others Google their keywords. Try <a
href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5838702650421651181">Google AdWords Keyword Tool</a> to find the keywords you should be using.</p><p><strong>25. Promote your Blog</strong> &#8211; Add your link or <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_34" class="blsp-spelling-error">RSS</span> Feed (as appropriate) to your e-mail, message board signatures and <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_35" class="blsp-spelling-error">RSS</span> or widget on social networking sites. Just make sure you follow message board policies &amp; don&#8217;t do this in a <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_36" class="blsp-spelling-error">spammy</span> way. If you can use your link or logo in signature blocks.</p><p><strong>26. Use Performance Plugins</strong> &#8211; I highly recommend using a Caching plugin, if you blog with WordPress. It makes a significant difference in page loading times. Try <a
href="http://www.w3-edge.com/wordpress-plugins/w3-total-cache/" target="_blank">W3 Total Cache</a>.</p><p><strong>27. Widget Control</strong> &#8211; Be careful adding too many widgets or plugins can make your webpage crawl. Seconds seem like a lifetime when you are browsing the web. You&#8217;ll definitely lose those readers with slower connections.</p><p><span
style="color: #000066; font-size: 130%;"> <span
style="font-weight: bold;">It&#8217;s All About Your Readers</span></span><br
/> <strong>28. Accept Reader Input &amp; Feedback</strong> &#8211; I was able to extend and improve quite a few posts by listening to valuable reader feedback.</p><p><strong>29. Appreciate Your Readers &amp; Followers</strong> &#8211; If someone takes the time to comment on a post, be sure to respond to them (provided it&#8217;s an actual comment &amp; not self promotion or spam). If you can, visit their site &amp; comment on an article of theirs you like.</p><p><strong>30. Show Your Appreciation</strong> &#8211; Show appreciation to those select readers who always return &amp; interact on your site. Realize that they are spending their valuable time on your site. Try a post that offers something for your reader, such as &#8220;Share Your Best Blog Post&#8221; every once in a while. You&#8217;ll get more comments and readers love that stuff.</p><p><strong>31. Respect Your Readers</strong> &#8211; Always be respectful to your readers &amp; in turn you&#8217;ll earn their respect.</p><p><strong>32. Think In Terms of Your Readers</strong> &#8211; You have to know your audience &amp; stay on top of trends to really figure out what your readers may want to read about? Try to stay up on sites that are in your niche. If you write about a given topic, keep yourself informed on that topic.</p><p><strong>33. Help Readers Solve Problems</strong> &#8211; If you post a &#8220;How To&#8221; or provide tips, try to do everything you can to help any of your readers solve problems they may have. Chances are, if you gain their trust by helping them to their satisfaction, they&#8217;ll come back for more. Quite a few of my posts have been written based off questions I&#8217;ve received by readers. Also, if you are trying to find an answer and there isn&#8217;t a good source to help you solve your problem, that&#8217;s your queue to fill the void. Chances are, many other readers are Googling the same question.</p><p><span
style="color: #000066; font-size: 130%;"><span
style="font-weight: bold;">Become a Blogging Ninja!</span></span><br
/> <strong>34. Play Like the Pros</strong> &#8211; Take a look at your favorite sites. What widgets or social networking badges do they use? How do they communicate with their readers? What kind of design do they have? Observe &amp; borrow some of your favorite elements to help take your site to another level.</p><p><strong>35. Add a Contact &amp; About Page</strong> &#8211; All well established sites have About &amp; Contact pages. If you use Blogger, you&#8217;re a little more limited but there are still many different tools to use. I use the WordPress Plugin <a
href="http://contactform7.com/" target="_blank">Contact Form 7</a>.</p><p><strong>36. Take Chances</strong> &#8211; I&#8217;ve taken chances by modifying my design &amp; tweaking my logo multiple times. The biggest risk I&#8217;ve taken was moving to a domain and from Blogger to WordPress to SquareSpace, then back to WordPress. This proved to be a better long-term decision. WordPress is the platform for me.</p><p><strong>37. Guest Blog</strong> &#8211; I&#8217;ve guest blogged at quite a few sites, which has helped me reach a larger audience. In addition to my guest blogging, I&#8217;ve hosted several guest bloggers. I&#8217;ve developed relationships through social networks &amp; by following several blogs and the best relationships I&#8217;ve attained is typically with the bloggers I&#8217;ve collaborated with. This is an exciting way to reach a larger audience &amp; get a fresh point of view. Cross-promotion is very valuable. Here&#8217;s on of my personal favorite guest author posts for example. <a
href="http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com/2009/01/technological-innovations-that-will.html">Technological Innovations That Will Help Us Change the World</a>.</p><p><strong>38. Get Your Site Reviewed</strong> &#8211; I&#8217;ve had my site reviewed at Warrior Forum, Digital Point and Blog Catalog. Each review has given me a different perspective in pointing out ways for me to improve. The reviews were honest &amp; extremely effective. Take a look at <a
href="/?p=188" target="_blank">15 Sites That Give Free Blog Reviews</a>.</p><p><strong>39. Work To Get Returning Visitors</strong> &#8211; Getting people to visit your site is the starting point, but in reality a small percentage will actually return. This goes back to setting yourself apart &amp; understanding the value you bring to your readers. There&#8217;s no magical formula, but one thing that&#8217;s worked best for me is helping newer <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_43" class="blsp-spelling-error">bloggers</span> in forums/e-mail as well as frequently visiting my favorite blogging sites. Being active in social networking communities &amp; building relationships is key.</p><p><strong>40. Conduct &amp; Publish an Interview</strong> &#8211; Conducting an interview is an excellent experience &amp; one that can help bring unique and intriguing content to your site. Don&#8217;t be afraid to approach other authors for an interview, but be sure to do your homework, limit your questions, show them why they should want to have an interview published on your site &amp; be very respectful. Take a look at my most recent interview, <a
href="http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2010/11/qa-with-mr-rick-richter-president-and-ceo-of-ruckus-media-group.html" target="_blank">Q&amp;A with Rick Richter, CEO of Ruckus Media.</a></p><p><span
style="font-weight: bold;">Blogging Resources</span><br
/> <a
href="http://blog.steffanantonas.com/100-killer-wordpress-resources.htm">100 Killer <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_47" class="blsp-spelling-error">WordPress</span> Resources &#8211; <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_48" class="blsp-spelling-error">Steffan</span> <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_49" class="blsp-spelling-error">Antona&#8217;s</span> Blog: </a>100+ Killer Resources for <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_50" class="blsp-spelling-error">WordPress</span> Hackers, Designers and <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_51" class="blsp-spelling-error">Powerbloggers</span>.<br
/> <a
href="http://mashable.com/2009/01/16/blogger-toolbox/">Blogger Toolbox: 100+ Tools and Themes &#8211; <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_52" class="blsp-spelling-error">Mashable</span>:</a> An extensive guide to over 100 free and premium tools, themes, and shortcuts for Blogger.com users.<br
/> <a
href="http://mashable.com/2007/06/19/blogging-toolbox/">Blogging Toolbox: 120+ Resources for <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_53" class="blsp-spelling-error">Bloggers</span> &#8211; <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_54" class="blsp-spelling-error">Mashable</span>:</a> An aspiring blogger can be overwhelmed with the vast amount of resources, tools, and advice for <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_55" class="blsp-spelling-error">bloggers</span> available on the net.<br
/> <a
href="http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/06/27/a-z-of-professional-blogging/">A &#8211; Z of Professional Blogging &#8211; <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_56" class="blsp-spelling-error">Problogger</span></a>: A &#8211; Z of Professional Blogging Tools<br
/> <a
href="http://lifehacker.com/387619/top-10-tools-to-get-blogging-done">Top 10 Tools to Get Blogging Done &#8211; <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_57" class="blsp-spelling-error">Lifehacker</span></a>: Writing your blog should be a fun way to stretch your mind and stay connected.<br
/> <a
href="http://www.pronetadvertising.com/articles/my-50-favorite-blogging-resources.html">My 50 Favorite Blogging Resources &#8211; <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_58" class="blsp-spelling-error">Pronet</span> Advertising: </a>There are thousands of blogging related resources on the Internet which can create an overwhelming experience for anyone looking to get into blogging.<br
/> <a
href="http://www.blogtrepreneur.com/2007/05/23/101-essential-blogging-resources/">101 Essential Blogging Resources &#8211; <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_59" class="blsp-spelling-error">Blogtrepreneur</span>: </a>Update: There are now 122 resources.<br
/> <a
href="http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/050714gardner/">Time to Check: Are You Using the Right Blogging Platform &#8211; <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_60" class="blsp-spelling-error">OJR</span>: </a>Blogs are one of the hottest publishing tools around, but picking blog software can be confusing and frustrating. Use this primer to get a feel for what&#8217;s available and what will work best for you.</p><p><span
style="font-weight: bold;">Blogging Platforms</span><br
/> <span
class="removed_link" title="http://www.blogger.com/">Blogger: </span>Free Blogging Platform.<span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><br
/> </span><a
href="https://www.typepad.com/"><span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_61" class="blsp-spelling-error">TypePad</span>: </a><span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_62" class="blsp-spelling-error">TypePad</span> charges between $4.95 &#8211; $14.95 monthly, depending on level of service chosen.<br
/> <a
href="http://home.blogware.com/"><span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_63" class="blsp-spelling-error">Blogware</span>: </a>Charges between $8-$15 per month, depending on reseller.<br
/> <a
href="http://www.wordpress.org/"><span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_64" class="blsp-spelling-error">WordPress</span>:</a><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"> F</span><span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_65" class="blsp-spelling-error">ree</span> Blogging Platform.<br
/> <a
href="http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/"><span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_66" class="blsp-spelling-error">Movabletype</span>: </a>Normal users will pay $69.95 or higher &amp; Commercial users pay at least $199.95.<br
/> <a
href="http://www.terapad.com/index.cfm"><span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_67" class="blsp-spelling-error">Terapad</span>: </a>Various pricing options. Free, Standard for $14.15 per month &amp; Pro for $49.15 per month.<br
/> <a
href="http://www.habariproject.org/en/"><span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_68" class="blsp-spelling-error">Habari</span> Project: </a>Next-generation blogging.<br
/> <a
href="http://lifetype.net/"><span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_69" class="blsp-spelling-error">Lifetype</span>: </a>Open Source Blogging Platform.<br
/> <a
href="http://drupal.org/"><span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_70" class="blsp-spelling-error">Drupal</span>: </a>Open Source Content Management.<br
/> <a
href="http://www.squarespace.com/"><span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_71" class="blsp-spelling-error">Squarespace</span>: </a>Starts at $8 per month.</p><p>What have you learned about your blogging experience? What&#8217;s your platform of choice? This is a post that is a collection of many of the aspects about blogging that I&#8217;ve learned thus far. I still learn something new almost everyday. My weakness is in <span
id="SPELLING_ERROR_72" class="blsp-spelling-error">SEO</span> or Search Engine Optimization, but I&#8217;m starting to learn more and grow. I hope you find this helpful to your blogging experience. Please do share your stories, experiences, etc.</p><div
style='clear:both'></div>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2010/11/tips-to-become-a-blogging-ninja.html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>2</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>10 Free Premium Blogger Templates to Outfit Your Blog</title><link>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2010/05/10-free-premium-blogger-templates-to-outfit-your-blog.html</link> <comments>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2010/05/10-free-premium-blogger-templates-to-outfit-your-blog.html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Tue, 25 May 2010 22:57:51 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Brian Mongold</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[blogger]]></category> <category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category> <category><![CDATA[templates]]></category> <category><![CDATA[themes]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.eazycheezy.net/?p=4310</guid> <description><![CDATA[Getting tired of your current Blogger template? Want to try some new digs on your blog? Here are 10 free Blogger Themes you'll love. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p
style="text-align: justify;">Getting tired of your current Blogger template? Want to try some new digs on your blog? If you use Blogger as your blogging platform, you&#8217;ve probably heard that Blogger doesn&#8217;t stand up in design when compared to other platforms such as WordPress. While this may be true in some cases, I&#8217;ve never had trouble finding Blogger templates I love.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;">Here&#8217;s what I like about Blogger templates. They are easy to install, the majority are free and there are countless well designed and appealing Blogger Templates just a few clicks away. You just need to know where to look.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;">Today, I&#8217;ve scoured the net to bring you some of my favorite Blogger Templates that are premium templates that cost you nothing.</p><p><strong><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2010/blogger-template-clean-elegance/" target="_blank">Clean Elegance </a></strong>(btemplates.com) &#8211; 2 Columns, Fixed width, Gray, Right sidebar,  White</p><p
style="text-align: center;"><strong><a
href="http://btemplates.com/download/2186/" target="_blank">Download</a> | <a
href="http://btemplates.com/2010/blogger-template-clean-elegance/demo/" target="_blank">Live Preview</a></strong></p><p><img
class="aligncenter" title="Clean Elegance" src="http://bt.bloggerpremium.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Clean-Elegance.jpg" alt="Clean Elegance 10 Free Premium Blogger Templates to Outfit Your Blog" width="500" height="285" /></p><p><strong><a
href="http://www.ourblogtemplates.com/2008/08/blogger-template-darken.html" target="_blank">Darken</a></strong> (ourbloggertemplates) &#8211; 1  sidebar column on the right and 3 sidebar columns at the bottom. You can use the header image as in  the sample blog or your own header image.</p><p
style="text-align: center;"><strong><a
href="http://www.box.net/shared/mre5il7p7r" target="_blank">Download</a> | <a
href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vstR4q94fu8/SJ4SLYj0x1I/AAAAAAAABXo/Md3ViRNUqRY/s1600-h/Darken.png" target="_blank">Live Preview</a></strong></p><p><img
class="aligncenter" title="Darken" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vstR4q94fu8/SJ4SLYj0x1I/AAAAAAAABXo/Md3ViRNUqRY/s1600/Darken.png" alt="Darken 10 Free Premium Blogger Templates to Outfit Your Blog" width="492" height="508" /></p><p><strong><a
href="http://www.bloggertemplatesblog.com/facebook-style-blogger-template/" target="_blank">Facebook Style</a></strong> (bloggertemplatesblog.com) &#8211; Adapted from WordPress,  3 Columns, 2 Sidebars, Blue and White, Fixed  Width, Minimalist, SEOptimized</p><p
style="text-align: center;"><strong><a
href="http://www.bloggertemplatesblog.com/wp-content/plugins/download-monitor/download.php?id=1429" target="_blank">Download</a> | <a
href="http://facebook-style-template.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Live Preview</a></strong></p><p><img
class="aligncenter" title="Facebook Style" src="http://www.bloggertemplatesblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/facebook-style.jpg" alt="facebook style 10 Free Premium Blogger Templates to Outfit Your Blog" width="491" height="305" /></p><p><strong><a
href="http://www.bloggertemplatesblog.com/guarantee-blogger-template/" target="_blank">Guarantee</a></strong> (bloggertemplates.com) &#8211; 2  Columns, Fixed  Width, Right  Sidebar, White.</p><p
style="text-align: center;"><strong><a
href="http://www.bloggertemplatesblog.com/wp-content/plugins/download-monitor/download.php?id=1255" target="_blank">Download</a> | <a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/11/10/guarantee/demo/" target="_blank">Live Preview</a></strong></p><p><img
class="aligncenter" title="Guarantee" src="http://www.bloggertemplatesblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Guarantee.jpg" alt="Guarantee 10 Free Premium Blogger Templates to Outfit Your Blog" width="490" height="278" /></p><p><strong><a
href="http://www.bloggertemplatesblog.com/maparaan-blogger-template/" target="_blank">Maparaan</a> </strong>(bloggertemplatesblog.com) &#8211; 2  Columns, Fixed  Width, Gray, Right  Sidebar.</p><p
style="text-align: center;"><strong><a
href="http://www.bloggertemplatesblog.com/wp-content/plugins/download-monitor/download.php?id=1452" target="_blank">Download</a> | <a
href="http://maparaan-template.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Live Preview</a></strong></p><p><img
class="aligncenter" title="Maparaan" src="http://www.bloggertemplatesblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/maparaan-blogger-template.jpg" alt="maparaan blogger template 10 Free Premium Blogger Templates to Outfit Your Blog" width="497" height="263" /></p><p><strong><a
href="http://www.bloggertemplatesblog.com/mettalic-shine-blogger-template/" target="_blank">Mettalic Shine</a> </strong>(bloggertemplatesblog.com) &#8211; 2  Columns, Brown, Fixed  Width, Right  Sidebar.</p><p
style="text-align: center;"><strong><a
href="http://www.bloggertemplatesblog.com/wp-content/plugins/download-monitor/download.php?id=1277" target="_blank">Download</a> | <a
href="http://metallicshine-templatesblock.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Live Preview</a></strong></p><p><img
class="aligncenter" title="Mettalic Shine" src="http://www.bloggertemplatesblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/mettalic-shine.jpg" alt="mettalic shine 10 Free Premium Blogger Templates to Outfit Your Blog" width="492" height="278" /></p><p><strong><a
href="http://www.bloggertemplatesblog.com/specific-blogger-template/" target="_blank">Specific</a></strong> (bloggertemplatesblog.com) &#8211; 2  Columns, Blue, Fixed  Width, Red, Right  Sidebar, White.</p><p
style="text-align: center;"><strong><a
href="http://www.bloggertemplatesblog.com/wp-content/plugins/download-monitor/download.php?id=1248" target="_blank">Download</a> | <a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/11/26/specific/demo/" target="_blank">Live Preview</a></strong></p><p><img
class="aligncenter" title="Specific" src="http://www.bloggertemplatesblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/specific.jpg" alt="specific 10 Free Premium Blogger Templates to Outfit Your Blog" width="492" height="270" /></p><p><strong><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2010/blogger-template-todays-news/" target="_blank">Todays News</a> </strong>(btemplates.com) &#8211; 3 Columns, Adapted  from WordPress, Fixed width, Gray, Magazine, Orange, Right sidebar,  Rounded  corners.</p><p
style="text-align: center;"><strong><a
href="http://btemplates.com/download/2185/" target="_blank">Download</a> | <a
href="http://btemplates.com/2010/blogger-template-todays-news/demo/" target="_blank">Live Preview</a></strong></p><p><img
class="aligncenter" title="Todays News" src="http://bt.bloggerpremium.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Todays-News.jpg" alt="Todays News 10 Free Premium Blogger Templates to Outfit Your Blog" width="500" height="285" /></p><p><strong><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2010/blogger-template-tree-house-2/" target="_blank">Tree House</a></strong> (btemplates) &#8211; 2 Columns, Adapted  from WordPress, Brown, Fixed width, Grunge, Orange, Right sidebar.</p><p
style="text-align: center;"><strong><a
href="http://btemplates.com/download/2179/" target="_blank">Download</a> | <a
href="http://btemplates.com/2010/blogger-template-tree-house-2/demo/" target="_blank">Live Preview</a></strong></p><p
style="text-align: center;"><img
class="aligncenter" title="Tree House" src="http://bt.bloggerpremium.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Tree-House.jpg" alt="Tree House 10 Free Premium Blogger Templates to Outfit Your Blog" width="490" height="279" /></p><p
style="text-align: center;"><p
style="text-align: justify;"><strong><a
href="http://www.ourblogtemplates.com/2009/10/blogger-templates-webnolia.html" target="_blank">Webnolia</a></strong> (ourbloggertemplates.com) &#8211; Minimalist and extremely flexible template with flexible multiple  columns (2, 4, 5, 6, or 7 columns). You can change the columns, all  background and font colors, and font types without doing any coding.</p><p
style="text-align: center;"><strong><a
href="http://www.box.net/shared/7rsg30doj0" target="_blank">Download</a> | <a
href="http://professional-template.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Live Preview</a></strong></p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><img
class="aligncenter" title="Webnolia" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vstR4q94fu8/Suy60zxr0vI/AAAAAAAAC7U/2EB_vZ1ojwU/s1600/Webnolia.png" alt="Webnolia 10 Free Premium Blogger Templates to Outfit Your Blog" width="489" height="736" /></p><p
style="text-align: justify;">Do you have any favorite Free Blogger Templates you&#8217;d like to share? Want to show off your new Blogger Template? Feel free to show us what you got.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><p
style="text-align: justify;"><div
style='clear:both'></div>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2010/05/10-free-premium-blogger-templates-to-outfit-your-blog.html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>3</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>10 Free Dark-Themed Blogger Templates</title><link>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/11/10-free-dark-themed-blogger-templates.html</link> <comments>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/11/10-free-dark-themed-blogger-templates.html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:46:56 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Brian Mongold</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[blogger]]></category> <category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category> <category><![CDATA[dark]]></category> <category><![CDATA[downloads]]></category> <category><![CDATA[free]]></category> <category><![CDATA[templates]]></category> <category><![CDATA[themes]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.eazycheezy.net/?p=2696</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p
style="text-align: justify;">Though I primarily blog these days at Eazy Cheezy and BlackBerry Enthusiast via WordPress, Blogger is still a great option that&#8217;s easy to use and the platform of choice for many bloggers. In fact, I typically recommend new or less experienced bloggers to go with Blogger, since it&#8217;s the easiest platform to use. [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p
style="text-align: justify;">Though I primarily blog these days at Eazy Cheezy and BlackBerry Enthusiast via WordPress, Blogger is still a great option that&#8217;s easy to use and the platform of choice for many bloggers. In fact, I typically recommend new or less experienced bloggers to go with Blogger, since it&#8217;s the easiest platform to use. Though WordPress is known to have more rich and professional looking themes, there are some amazing Free Blogger Themes available. Today, I wanted to focus in on the dark themed templates and show you 10 free Blogger templates I love.</p><p
style="text-align: left;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/10/31/night-gate/" target="_blank">Night Gate</a></strong></span> (btemplates.com) &#8211; Three column, WordPress adapted theme by Skinpress.</p><p
style="text-align: center;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/10/31/night-gate/"><img
class="aligncenter" title="Night Gate Free Blogger Template" src="http://btemplates.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Night-Gate.jpg" alt="Night Gate 10 Free Dark Themed Blogger Templates " width="451" height="257" /></a><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/10/31/night-gate/demo/" target="_blank"></a></span></p><p
style="text-align: center;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/10/31/night-gate/demo/" target="_blank">Live Demo</a></span> | <span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/download/1385/" target="_blank">Download</a></span></p><p
style="text-align: left;"><strong><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/10/07/arto/" target="_blank">Arto</a></strong> (btemplates.com) &#8211; Two Column, WordPress adapted theme by Themecraft.</p><p
style="text-align: center;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/10/07/arto/"><img
class="aligncenter" title="Arto Free Blogger Template" src="http://btemplates.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Arto.jpg" alt="Arto 10 Free Dark Themed Blogger Templates " width="450" height="256" /></a><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/10/07/arto/demo/" target="_blank"></a></span></p><p
style="text-align: center;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/10/07/arto/demo/" target="_blank">Live Demo</a></span> | <span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/download/1316/" target="_blank">Download</a></span></p><p><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/09/29/woody-2/" target="_blank">Woody</a></strong></span> (btemplates.com) &#8211; Two Column, WordPress adapted theme by Skinpress.</p><p
style="text-align: center;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/09/29/woody-2/"><img
class="aligncenter" title="Woody Free Blogger Template" src="http://btemplates.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Woody.jpg" alt="Woody 10 Free Dark Themed Blogger Templates " width="450" height="257" /></a><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/09/29/woody-2/demo/" target="_blank"></a></span></p><p
style="text-align: center;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/09/29/woody-2/demo/" target="_blank">Live Demo</a></span> | <span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/download/1303/" target="_blank">Download</a></span></p><p
style="text-align: left;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/09/28/gallery/" target="_blank">Gallery</a></strong></span> (btemplates.com) &#8211; Three column photolog designed for photography.</p><p
style="text-align: center;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/09/28/gallery/"><img
class="aligncenter" title="Gallery Free Blogger Template" src="http://btemplates.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Gallery.jpg" alt="Gallery 10 Free Dark Themed Blogger Templates " width="450" height="256" /></a><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/09/28/gallery/demo/" target="_blank"></a></span></p><p
style="text-align: center;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/09/28/gallery/demo/" target="_blank">Live Demo</a></span> | <span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/download/1295/" target="_blank">Download</a></span></p><p
style="text-align: left;"><strong><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/09/24/bloggertube/" target="_blank">BloggerTube</a></strong> (btemplates.com) &#8211; Four column theme designed to display videos.</p><p
style="text-align: center;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/09/24/bloggertube/"><img
class="aligncenter" title="BloggerTube Free Blogger Template" src="http://btemplates.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Bloggertube.jpg" alt="Bloggertube 10 Free Dark Themed Blogger Templates " width="450" height="256" /></a><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/09/24/bloggertube/demo/" target="_blank"></a></span></p><p
style="text-align: center;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/09/24/bloggertube/demo/" target="_blank">Live Demo</a></span> | <span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/download/1289/" target="_blank">Download</a></span></p><p
style="text-align: left;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/09/11/pork-and-beans/" target="_blank">Pork and Beans</a> </strong></span>(btemplates.com) &#8211; Two column blog, adapted from WordPress by Fearless Flyer.</p><p
style="text-align: center;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/09/11/pork-and-beans/"><img
class="aligncenter" title="Pork and Beans Free Blogger Template" src="http://btemplates.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Pork-and-beans.jpg" alt="Pork and beans 10 Free Dark Themed Blogger Templates " width="450" height="257" /></a><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/09/11/pork-and-beans/demo/" target="_blank"></a></span></p><p
style="text-align: center;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/09/11/pork-and-beans/demo/" target="_blank">Live Demo</a></span> | <span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/download/1259/" target="_blank">Download</a></span></p><p
style="text-align: left;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/08/07/photoplus/" target="_blank">Photoplus</a></strong></span> (btemplates.com) &#8211; Three column photolog, designed for photography.</p><p
style="text-align: center;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/08/07/photoplus/"><img
class="aligncenter" title="Photoplus Free Blogger Template" src="http://btemplates.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Photoplus.jpg" alt="Photoplus 10 Free Dark Themed Blogger Templates " width="450" height="256" /></a><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/08/07/photoplus/demo/" target="_blank"></a></span></p><p
style="text-align: center;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/08/07/photoplus/demo/" target="_blank">Live Demo</a></span> | <span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/download/1189/" target="_blank">Download </a></span></p><p
style="text-align: left;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/06/30/smoky/" target="_blank">Smoky</a></strong></span> (btemplates.com) &#8211; 2 column theme, adapted from WordPress by Skinpress.</p><p
style="text-align: center;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/06/30/smoky/"><img
class="aligncenter" title="Smoky Free Blogger Template" src="http://btemplates.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/smoky.jpg" alt="smoky 10 Free Dark Themed Blogger Templates " width="450" height="256" /></a><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/06/30/smoky/demo/" target="_blank"></a></strong></span></p><p
style="text-align: center;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/06/30/smoky/demo/" target="_blank">Live Demo</a> |<a
href="http://btemplates.com/download/1111/" target="_blank"> Download</a></strong></span></p><p
style="text-align: left;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/06/20/black-power/" target="_blank">Black Power</a></strong></span> (btemplates.com) &#8211; Two column theme, adapted from WordPress by Skinpress.</p><p
style="text-align: center;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/06/20/black-power/"><img
class="aligncenter" title="Black Power Free Blogger Template" src="http://btemplates.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/black-power.jpg" alt="black power 10 Free Dark Themed Blogger Templates " width="450" height="256" /></a><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/06/20/black-power/demo/" target="_blank"></a></span></p><p
style="text-align: center;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://btemplates.com/2009/06/20/black-power/demo/" target="_blank">Live Demo</a></span> |<span
style="text-decoration: underline;"> <a
href="http://btemplates.com/download/1094/" target="_blank">Download </a></span></p><p><strong><a
href="http://templates.arcsin.se/dark-ritual-blogger-template/" target="_blank">Dark Ritual</a></strong> (templates.arcsin.se) &#8211; Tribal-style three column, WordPress based theme modified to blogger by Zona Cerebral.</p><p
style="text-align: center;"><a
href="http://templates.arcsin.se/dark-ritual-blogger-template/"></a><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://darkritualzc.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"></a></span></p><p
style="text-align: center;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://darkritualzc.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Preview</a></span> | <span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://templates.arcsin.se/download/dark-ritual-blogger-template/" target="_blank">Download</a></span></p><p
style="text-align: left;">Do you like any of the templates listed above? I tend to prefer the themes that have a darker background and a pattern, which is why I love Pork &amp; Beans, Night Gate and Arto. I could also see BloggerTube having great potential for a video blog. I actually like all 10, which is why they were chosen. <img
src='http://www.fivefreeapps.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt="icon smile 10 Free Dark Themed Blogger Templates " class='wp-smiley' title="10 Free Dark Themed Blogger Templates " /></p><div
style='clear:both'></div>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/11/10-free-dark-themed-blogger-templates.html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>WordPress vs. Blogger &#8211; My Experience</title><link>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/09/wordpress-vs-blogger-my-experience.html</link> <comments>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/09/wordpress-vs-blogger-my-experience.html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:36:52 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Brian Mongold</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[blogger]]></category> <category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category> <category><![CDATA[wordpress]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.eazycheezy.net/?p=2462</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p
style="text-align: justify;">I started Eazy Cheezy last September as a Blogger Blog. I found Blogger to be a perfect platform for me to start with. As time went on, I made a quick decision to transition to WordPress. I was always curious about what WordPress had to offer and was sucked in after seeing  all [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p
style="text-align: justify;">I started Eazy Cheezy last September as a Blogger Blog. I found Blogger to be a perfect platform for me to start with. As time went on, I made a quick decision to transition to WordPress. I was always curious about what WordPress had to offer and was sucked in after seeing  all the amazing WordPress Themes, Plugins, etc.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;">Launching my blog in Blogger was critical to my development as a Blogger. The ease of use eliminated what I thought would be a learning curb for figuring out how to use this platform. It instead enabled me to focus on learning to become a better blogger, finding some great widgets and working to grow blogging relationships and promote my site. As time passed, I realized it was time to make a big transition. In January, I moved to WordPress and wanted to share some of my thoughts on both Blogger and WordPress.</p><h2 style="text-align: justify;">BLOGGER</h2><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>The Good</strong></h3><ul
style="text-align: justify;"><li><strong>Simplicity</strong> &#8211; This was key for me to start my blogging venture. If it would have been too complex of a platform, I doubt I would have grown as a blogger as quickly as Blogger enabled me to. I believe users of all experience levels will be able to create a blog at Blogger and figure out how to add widgets, edit settings, etc. in no time.</li><li><strong>Blogger Community</strong> &#8211; I have built my best blogging relationships from fellow Blogger users. It truly is a great community of Bloggers and I enjoyed learning from and helping other bloggers as I was growing myself.</li><li><strong>Customization</strong> &#8211; Having the ability to edit your template and layout in such an easy way is such a nice benefit. By clicking on your layout tab, you can then click to modify the page elements, fonts and colors, make HTML adjustments or click to Pick a New Template from the Gallery of Blogger Templates.<img
class="aligncenter" title="Blogger Settings" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/Brian3577/bloggersettings.jpg" alt="bloggersettings WordPress vs. Blogger   My Experience" width="448" height="243" /></li></ul><p
style="text-align: justify;"><strong>The Bad</strong></p><ul
style="text-align: justify;"><li><strong>Limitations</strong> &#8211; As I progressed as a Blogger, I began to feel a bit limited with some of the functionality and themes that weren&#8217;t available. Though I really liked the fact that there were some slick looking themes, many times finding the widget to do some of the things I wanted was a big process, full of quite a bit of Google Searching. There were also quite a few hacks I ended up using, which helped.</li></ul><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>WORDPRESS</strong></h2><h3 style="text-align: justify;">The Good</h3><ul
style="text-align: justify;"><li><strong>Themes</strong> &#8211; I love the free and cheap WordPress themes that are available. To me, they are typically a notch above those that are available on Blogger.</li><li><strong>Plugins </strong>- I have found plugins for just about anything and everything I wanted. It&#8217;s saved me quite a bit of time and added the functionality I was lacking in Blogger. I currently have 28 active plugins I use for purposes such as spam filtering, Adsense, Twitter functionality, Top 10 Post Widget, subscription options, related posts, social networking, checking for broken links, search engine optimization, etc. I think you get the picture. If you have a need, chances are WordPress has the plugin for that need.</li></ul><p
style="text-align: justify;"><img
class="aligncenter" title="WordPress Dashboard" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/Brian3577/wordpresssettings.jpg" alt="wordpresssettings WordPress vs. Blogger   My Experience" width="451" height="185" /></p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><strong><br
/> The Bad</strong></p><ul
style="text-align: justify;"><li><strong>Upgrades</strong> &#8211; The most annoying thing to me is that each time I am satisfied with my current plugins, I get a notice in my dashboard about a new WordPress Upgrade. The problem with the upgrades are that some Plugins are only supported to a certain WordPress version. As I mentioned before, I have 28 plugins, so I have to worry about these plugins not working if I click on the upgrade.</li><li><strong>Spam</strong> &#8211; Perhaps it&#8217;s because I have more visits, but it really seems as though the spam has been ridiculous with WordPress. I use a plugin called Akismet, which is actually a very good plugin, but it doesn&#8217;t always catch all the spam. If I see one more Viagra or Cialis related comment, I&#8217;m going to go on a comment deleting spree.</li><li><strong>More Professional, Less Fun</strong> &#8211; Perhaps it&#8217;s just me or my experience, but my Blogger days seemed more fun and as if I was in more of a community. I like the professional look and feel of WordPress, but only to a point. I still love to blog and really appreciate my readers, but need to bring more of the fun back.</li></ul><p
style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Overall</strong></p><p
style="text-align: justify;">I can&#8217;t tell you which is best, only that I really love and get annoyed with them both for different reasons. It&#8217;s really up to each individual blogger and what the particular goals are. For many blogging aspects, Blogger was perfect for me and  I still use Blogger for a few side blogs. The only blog I use WordPress for is Eazy Cheezy. WordPress feels more professional and grown up for me, while Blogger felt a little more limited. For me to grow in the way I really want to, I felt I needed to move from Blogger. Perhaps WordPress is the answer or maybe I&#8217;ll even look into more options, such as SquareSpace. For now, I&#8217;m satisfied with WordPress but am always open to change if I think it&#8217;s a risk worth taking.</p><div
style='clear:both'></div>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/09/wordpress-vs-blogger-my-experience.html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>7</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Help Your Popular Blog Post Reach it&#8217;s Full Potential</title><link>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/09/help-your-popular-blog-post-reach-its-full-potential.html</link> <comments>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/09/help-your-popular-blog-post-reach-its-full-potential.html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:04:46 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Brian Mongold</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[blogger]]></category> <category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category> <category><![CDATA[tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[wordpress]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.eazycheezy.net/?p=2308</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p
style="text-align: justify;">I wanted to add a short posting today to provide the potential benefits of expanding up and branching off a popular blog posting you may have had. There is so much you can do with the popular posting to improve it, make it more accessible, easy to read, etc. Below are a few [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p
style="text-align: justify;">I wanted to add a short posting today to provide the potential benefits of expanding up and branching off a popular blog posting you may have had. There is so much you can do with the popular posting to improve it, make it more accessible, easy to read, etc. Below are a few tips that I&#8217;ve personally used.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Look for Ways to Improve Your Popular Post</strong></p><p
style="text-align: justify;">If you have a post that&#8217;s a hit, making minor tweaks can make it even better and garner more attention. For example, I started out with a post, 20 Free Sites to Watch Movies &amp; TV Online. As time passed, I found more sites and utilized readers recommendations to expand this to <span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://www.eazycheezy.net/2008/09/50-free-sites-to-watch-movies-and-tv-online-part-1.html" target="_blank">50 Free Sites to Watch Movies &amp; TV Online</a></span>. I added navigational links to the bottom and top of each of the 5-series posting. Then I went back and changed my images, resized them and embedded the link within each image to allow readers to click the image and go to that site. As time has passed, I&#8217;ve replaced dead links with other sites, expanded upon the explanation, provided my personal rating, etc. Another thing you should do is ensure the title is a title that would make you want to click on it if you saw it.</p><p><strong>Simplify Sharing</strong></p><p
style="text-align: justify;">If you use WordPress as your blogging platform. Using a plugin such as <span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/tweetmeme/" target="_blank">TweetMeMe</a></span>, displays a Retweet Icon on your posting giving your readers the ability to Retweet the content to their followers, along with the ability to see how many times the post has been Retweeted. Another plugin I&#8217;d recommend is <span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/sexybookmarks/" target="_blank">Sexy Bookmarks</a></span>, which gives you the ability to choose from several social networking sites that displays at the beginning or end of your post. If you blog with Blogger, Mashable has provided some <span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://mashable.com/2009/01/26/blogger-widgets/" target="_blank">excellent widgets</a></span> that simplify sharing.</p><p><strong>Display Related Posts</strong></p><p
style="text-align: justify;">For WordPress Bloggers, I recommend the <span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/possibly-related-recent-posts/" target="_blank">Possibly Related Recent Posts</a></span> plugin, which displays a list of possibly related links at the end of each of your posts. It finds related posts using a filter on the_content. For Blogspot users, you may find <span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://www.jackbook.com/blogger-hack-blogspot-hack-blogger-templates-customizing/related-posts-entries-on-blogger-blogspot" target="_blank">this hack</a></span> helpful to display related posts on your Blogger Blog.</p><p><strong>Display Popular Posts</strong></p><p
style="text-align: justify;">Readers who visit your blog may want to see your best work. Create a Popular Posts section and display your most popular posts. For WordPress users, I personally love <a
href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/top-10/" target="_blank">Top 10</a>, which gives you the ability to automatically display your Top 10 Overall Posts or Top 10 Daily Posts, along with the option to show the number of hits. For Blogger users, you can use a hack, such as this <span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://www.anshuldudeja.com/2009/01/popular-post-widget-most-commented.html" target="_blank">Popular Post Widget</a></span>, which displays the most commented posts.</p><p><strong>Branch Out From Your Popular Post</strong></p><p
style="text-align: justify;">The rewards for branching out or expanding upon your post can be amazing. For example, I started out with 50 Free Sites to Watch Movies &amp; TV Online and had a tremendous amount of traffic for the last year. As I thought of ways to take advantage of this, I decided to branch out and create several other similar, but different posts, such as; <span
class="removed_link" title="http://www.eazycheezy.net/2009/06/best-of-the-best-10-greatest-free-movie-sites.html">Best of the Best! 10 Greatest Free Movie Sites</span>, <span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><span
class="removed_link" title="http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2010/05/14-free-sites-to-watch-live-sports-online.html">10 Free Sites to Watch Live and Streaming Sporting Events</span></span>, etc, etc. In fact, recently I created a posting,<span
style="text-decoration: underline;"> <span
class="removed_link" title="http://www.eazycheezy.net/2009/06/free-movie-sites-a-z.html">Free Movie Sites, A to Z</span> </span>to provide a simplified, single page of all the movie sites using direct links. It&#8217;s currently on pace to blow away my 50 Free Sites posting. Today alone, this posting has had 7,650 page views compared to my 50 Free Movie Sites posting which has just 517 page views today.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Reference Related Links in Your Popular Post</strong></p><p
style="text-align: justify;">If you like this post, you may also want to check out xxxx. I have started to make this a habit and typically add this entry to the beginning section of my most popular posts. It leads to more clicks, interest, etc. You&#8217;ll find an example of this at the beginning of my <span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><span
class="removed_link" title="http://www.eazycheezy.net/2009/06/free-movie-sites-a-z.html">Free Movie Sites</span></span>, A to Z posting.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;">The tips above are just a few tips you can use to better take advantage of a popular post or really any post. Of course there are more ways to take advantage, such as sharing your link on various sites that have content related to your post. I do advise that simply posting your link can look spammy. Instead, try to add to the value of the post on those sites. You can share your thoughts and provide your link as a way to add value. Do you have any tips I may have missed? Plugins, widgets, etc?</p><div
style='clear:both'></div>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/09/help-your-popular-blog-post-reach-its-full-potential.html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>5</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Twitterize Your WordPress or Blogger Blog with These Great Tools</title><link>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/05/twitterize-your-wordpress-or-blogger-blog-with-these-great-tools.html</link> <comments>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/05/twitterize-your-wordpress-or-blogger-blog-with-these-great-tools.html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Fri, 15 May 2009 21:21:15 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Brian Mongold</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[blogger]]></category> <category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category> <category><![CDATA[plugins]]></category> <category><![CDATA[social networking]]></category> <category><![CDATA[traffic]]></category> <category><![CDATA[twitter]]></category> <category><![CDATA[widgets]]></category> <category><![CDATA[wordpress]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.eazycheezy.net/?p=1202</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p
style="text-align: justify;"><a
href="http://twitter.com/eazycheezy"></a><a
href="http://twitter.com/" target="_blank">Twitter</a> is the latest fad and arguably the most attractive social networking site among the group. If you&#8217;re a Twitter user and a Blogger, this post is for you. Twitter is a proven method sharing content with your friends and engaging in the community of Twitter users. It&#8217;s also a [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p
style="text-align: justify;"><a
href="http://twitter.com/eazycheezy"><img
class="alignright" title="Follow Eazy Cheezy on Twitter" src="http://www.junglejar.com/downloads/icons/twitter/images/twitset25.png" alt="twitset25 Twitterize Your WordPress or Blogger Blog with These Great Tools" width="157" height="184" /></a><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://twitter.com/" target="_blank">Twitter</a> </span>is the latest fad and arguably the most attractive social networking site among the group. If you&#8217;re a Twitter user and a Blogger, this post is for you. Twitter is a proven method sharing content with your friends and engaging in the community of Twitter users. It&#8217;s also a proven way of obtaining additional Blog traffic when used correctly.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;">Integrating your Blog with Twitter can enhance the potential for your content to be thrust into the Twitter community. Once your content is tweeted by someone who likes your link, they can Tweet it to their followers. If any of their followers like the content, they may retweet it to their followers, etc. You can see the power of duplicating the availability of your content through distribution. Below you&#8217;ll find some great tools to fully integrate your Blog with Twitter, whether you use the WordPress or Blogger Platform.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;">Also, don&#8217;t forget to follow <span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a
href="http://twitter.com/eazycheezy" target="_blank">Eazy Cheezy on Twitter</a></strong></span> and if you like this or any other post, feel free to give a little Tweet-Love. <img
src='http://www.fivefreeapps.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt="icon smile Twitterize Your WordPress or Blogger Blog with These Great Tools" class='wp-smiley' title="Twitterize Your WordPress or Blogger Blog with These Great Tools" /></p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><strong>WordPress</strong></p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/tweetmeme/" target="_blank">Tweetmeme</a></span> &#8211; Very cool button to add to your WordPress Blog. Enables readers to tweet or retweet your content. I&#8217;m currently using this plugin on the site.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><a
href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/tweetmeme/"><img
class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1358" title="Tweetmeme Plugin" src="http://www.eazycheezy.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/tweetmeme.png" alt="tweetmeme Twitterize Your WordPress or Blogger Blog with These Great Tools" width="64" height="72" /></a></p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/twitter-for-wordpress/" target="_blank">Twitter for WordPress</a></span> &#8211; Displays your latest tweets in your WordPress blog. You can add it as a widget or add the code to your template.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/twitter-widget-pro/" target="_blank">Twitter Widget Pro</a></span> &#8211; This widget properly handles Twitter Feeds, @username and link parsing. It enables you to display profile images and has the ability to further customize. Requires PHP5</p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/twitter-style-links/" target="_blank">Twitter Style Links</a> </span>- Twitterizes your blog comments. When you type @username, it will search for the users previous comments and convert the name into their url.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-to-twitter/" target="_blank">WP to Twitter</a> </span>- Posts status updates from your blog to Twitter. Utilizes the Cli.gs URL shortening service for your blog links.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/top-twitter-links-by-twitturls/" target="_blank">Top Twitter Links</a></span> &#8211; Posts top Twitter Links directly onto your blog.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/thread-twitter/" target="_blank" class="broken_link" rel="nofollow">Thread Twitter</a></span> &#8211; Grabs your Tweets and displays them in a threaded format on your blog.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/twitter-links-for-wordpress-and-blogger/7995/" target="_blank">Add a Tweet This Link</a></span> &#8211; Use the code and tips displayed in this article to add a Tweet This link. Instructions for WordPress and Blogger.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Blogger</strong></p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><a
href="http://twitter.com/badges/blogger" target="_blank"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;">Twitter for Blogger</span> </a>- Select your number of updates to display, type in your title for the widget and add it to Blogger. It displays your most recent tweets directly on your Blog.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://www.bloggerbuster.com/2008/04/add-customized-twitter-widget-to-your.html" target="_blank">Customized Twitter Widget</a> </span>- Follow these instructions from Blogger Buster to add a nice customized Twitter Widget to your Blogger Blog.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/twitter-links-for-wordpress-and-blogger/7995/" target="_blank">Add a Tweet This Link</a></span> &#8211; Use the code and tips displayed in this article to add a Tweet This link. Instructions for WordPress and Blogger.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://twitter.com/widgets/blogger" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span> &#8211; Adds a Twitter Follow Link to your Blogger Blog and enables you to display your recent Tweets.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><span
style="text-decoration: underline;"><a
href="http://www.blogspottutorial.com/2009/01/how-to-install-twitter-widget-in.html" target="_blank">Install Twitter Widget in Blogger</a></span>- Tutorial to install a Twitter Widget in a Blogger Blog.<a
href="http://www.blogspottutorial.com/2009/01/how-to-install-twitter-widget-in.html" target="_blank"><br
/> </a></p><div
style='clear:both'></div>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/05/twitterize-your-wordpress-or-blogger-blog-with-these-great-tools.html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>2</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>How to Get Guest Bloggers</title><link>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/04/how-to-get-guest-bloggers.html</link> <comments>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/04/how-to-get-guest-bloggers.html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 2009 23:47:21 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Brian Mongold</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[blogger]]></category> <category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category> <category><![CDATA[guest author]]></category> <category><![CDATA[tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[wordpress]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.eazycheezy.net/?p=797</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p
style="text-align: justify;">I&#8217;ve previously posted about the <a
href="http://the-new-author.blogspot.com/2009/03/guest-blog-your-way-to-more-readers-and.html" target="_blank">potential benefits of Guest Blogging</a> and have since received questions on how to get started with hosting Guest Bloggers. To address this question, I felt it was necessary to back up a bit and provide some of my personal tips to get started.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;">Create [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p
style="text-align: justify;">I&#8217;ve previously posted about the <strong><a
href="http://the-new-author.blogspot.com/2009/03/guest-blog-your-way-to-more-readers-and.html" target="_blank">potential benefits of Guest Blogging</a> </strong>and have since received questions on how to get started with hosting Guest Bloggers. To address this question, I felt it was necessary to back up a bit and provide some of my personal tips to get started.</p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Create a Guest Blogging Informational Page</strong></p><p
style="text-align: justify;">This will be the central portal that provides important information to potential Guest Bloggers and lets them know exactly what your looking for, how they can contact you, why one would want to guest blog on your site and what advantages there are for those who publish an article on your blog. You&#8217;ll want to include the following;</p><ul
style="text-align: justify;"><li><strong>Introduction and Overview of Your Blog </strong>- Not everyone who finds this page will be familiar with your blog and many may find it via search engines, social networking, etc.</li><li><strong>Accomplishments</strong> &#8211; Let them know what sets your blog apart from all the rest. You can include Page Rank, Blog Awards, etc.</li><li><strong>What&#8217;s In It For Guest Bloggers</strong> &#8211; This is your sales pitch. You don&#8217;t need to pay bloggers to write guest posts on your site. Many are looking to further expand their reader base and this is an excellent opportunity for cross promotion. <strong><br
/> </strong></li><li><strong>What Your Looking For</strong> &#8211; You can be as specific as you want, but be sure to atleast provide basic information to help potential guest bloggers better prepare and to help you weed out posts that wouldn&#8217;t fit into your blog.</li><li><strong>Specifics For Guest Bloggers to Provide</strong> &#8211; To avoid excessive and unecessary e-mails, such as &#8220;I&#8217;ll do it, what do you want me to do,&#8221; provide a list of specific information you want interested bloggers to provide.</li></ul><blockquote
style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>Name</li><li>Blog URL or Sample Work</li><li>Story Ideas</li><li>Availability to Post</li></ul></blockquote><ul
style="text-align: justify;"><li><strong>Requirements</strong> &#8211; Whether you will require anything from a Guest Blogger, you should address this area so it leaves no question. For example, you may want to consider requiring linkbacks.</li><li><strong>Contact Information</strong> &#8211; This is very important. Don&#8217;t forget to let potential Guest Blogger&#8217;s know how to contact you. I&#8217;d recommend using a contact form, but if nothing else, be sure to provide an e-mail address.</li></ul><p
style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Promote Your Guest Blogging Opportunity</strong></p><p
style="text-align: justify;">Now that you have all the information for Guest Bloggers to provide, get the word out. Here&#8217;s a few tips to help promote your Guest Blogging Opportunity Page.</p><ul
style="text-align: justify;"><li><strong>Link the Guest Blogging Opportunity Page to the top</strong> of your site for all to read.</li><li><strong>Use social networking sites</strong> such as Stumbled Upon, Digg, Reddit, Twitter, etc.</li><li><strong>Invite Any of Your Readers Who Stand Out.</strong></li><li><strong>Post the opportunity at Message Boards where Bloggers may hang out</strong>. I&#8217;d recommend the following;</li></ul><blockquote
style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><strong><a
href="http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/" target="_blank">SitePoint Forums</a></strong></li><li><strong><a
href="http://www.warriorforum.com/" target="_blank">Warrior Forums</a></strong></li><li><strong><a
href="http://forum.authorityblogger.com/" target="_blank">Authority Blogger Forums</a></strong></li><li><strong><a
href="http://forums.digitalpoint.com/" target="_blank">Digital Point Forums</a></strong></li><li><strong><a
href="http://www.blogcatalog.com/" target="_blank">Blog Catalog</a><br
/> </strong></li></ul></blockquote><ul
style="text-align: justify;"><li><strong>Promote the Opportunity at Other Sites Within Your Niche</strong></li></ul><p
style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Helpful Links</strong></p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><strong><a
href="http://piggybankpie.com/guest-blogging/52-blogs-that-accept-guest-posts/" target="_blank">52 Blogs that Accept Guest Posts</a></strong> (piggybankpie.com)</p><p
style="text-align: justify;"><strong><a
href="http://www.ehow.com/how_2072066_multiple-authors-post-blogger-blog.html" target="_blank">How to Let Multiple Authors Post on a Blogger Blog</a></strong> (eHow.com)</p><div
style='clear:both'></div>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/04/how-to-get-guest-bloggers.html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>20</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Blogger to WordPress Migration: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly</title><link>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/03/blogger-to-wordpress-migration-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly.html</link> <comments>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/03/blogger-to-wordpress-migration-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly.html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:01:36 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Brian Mongold</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[blogger]]></category> <category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category> <category><![CDATA[tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[wordpress]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.eazycheezy.net/?p=480</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>On Friday night, I stumbled upon an <a
href="http://www.mamablogga.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-migrating-from-blogger-to-wordpress/">excellent article by MamaBlogga</a> that provided 10 easy steps to migrate from a Blogger Platform to WordPress. She made life much easier with the migration. I had been considering making this move for quite some time, but wasn&#8217;t sure how or if I really wanted to do [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>On Friday night, I stumbled upon an <strong><a
href="http://www.mamablogga.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-migrating-from-blogger-to-wordpress/">excellent article by MamaBlogga</a></strong> that provided 10 easy steps to migrate from a Blogger Platform to WordPress. She made life much easier with the migration. I had been considering making this move for quite some time, but wasn&#8217;t sure how or if I really wanted to do so. I love Blogger, but felt a bit limited in some ways. I also like to provide blogging tips and had no previous experience with WordPress, so I have been wanting to learn about it. Now that some of the headaches are out of the way, I wanted to share my initial thoughts.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><span
style="color: #000080;"><strong>The Good</strong></span></p><p>- <strong>High Quality Themes</strong>: WordPress has an amazing assortment of visually appealing themes, which far surpass that of Blogger.</p><p>- <strong>Plugins</strong>: The assortment of plugins is unbelievable. It reminds me of the iPod App Store. There really is a Plugin for just about anything you could ask for.</p><p>-  <strong>Search Engine Optimization (SEO)</strong>: In addition to the tagging and categorizing ability, there are extensive listings of plugins that can greatly improve your search engine results.</p><p>-  <strong>Statistics</strong>: I love statistics and WordPress has excellent built in features and available plugins to track visitors, visited posts, etc.</p><p>- <strong>Import, Export Functions</strong>: Importing my Blogger Blog and Comments was extremely simple and quick. It was a matter of me clicking on my WordPress Dashboard, Settings, Import, selecting Blogger, and then clicking Transfer. Couldn&#8217;t be easier.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><span
style="color: #000080;"><strong>The Bad</strong></span></p><p>- <strong>Visual Editor:</strong> I am not a fan of the formatting functions provided when creating a new post. As I was typing this post, it kept trying to format and double-space. There&#8217;s probably an easy way to change this, but I&#8217;m now using Word to write this post.</p><p>- <strong>Adsense Integration:</strong> I found a ton of Adsense plugins, but couldn&#8217;t get them to display after configuring them. I tried just posting the code and had the same problem.</p><p>- <strong>More Complex then Blogger:</strong> This could be a pain for those who just want a simple way to post their content. For example, to get extra widgets, you&#8217;ll have to first install a plugin, add the widget, and then configure settings (for some widgets).</p><p>- <strong>Plugin Compatibility:</strong> You have to know the Version of WordPress you have when searching for plugins. Many plugins are not compatible with the latest version of WordPress.</p><p><span
style="color: #000080;"><strong>The Ugly</strong></span></p><p>- <strong>Broken Links:</strong> I spent the entire weekend fixing broken links, since WordPress and Blogger create Post URL&#8217;s differently.</p><p>- <strong>WordPress is Free, but it&#8217;ll cost you money for hosting:</strong> Blogger is free, but with WordPress you have to use a Hosting Service. I used <a
href="http://www.bluehost.com/">BlueHost</a> and it cost me approximately $94 for 1 year, based on the options I selected.</p><p>- <strong>Social Bookmarked Posts May Be Lost:</strong> This is something I never really considered. Since Blogger and WordPress do their links differently, I lost some of my biggest traffic sources, i.e. a few Stumbled Upon and Digg submitted posts.</p><p>Overall, I&#8217;m very happy I finally made the switch, but should have planned it better. I didn&#8217;t realize I&#8217;d have so many broken links to fix, but luckily I used the <a
href="http://w-shadow.com/blog/2007/08/05/broken-link-checker-for-wordpress/">broken links plugin</a> and <a
href="http://urbangiraffe.com/plugins/redirection/">redirect</a> and fix the links. Now that the site design is complete, in the next few posts, I&#8217;ll be sharing some of my favorite plugins and themes I found while tweaking the site. I hope you enjoy the new layout. It was frustrating, but also pretty fun.</p><div
style='clear:both'></div>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/03/blogger-to-wordpress-migration-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly.html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>WordPress Migration, Quick Update</title><link>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/03/wordpress-migration-quick-update.html</link> <comments>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/03/wordpress-migration-quick-update.html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Sun, 08 Mar 2009 06:58:25 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Brian Mongold</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[blogger]]></category> <category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category> <category><![CDATA[migration]]></category> <category><![CDATA[wordpress]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.eazycheezy.net/?p=386</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Just a quick update. A few days ago, I posted about the Blogger to WordPress migration and I&#8217;ve  now settle on a theme, but have been working to fix several broken links. I&#8217;m going through and fixing each of the broken links with the help of a handy plugin. Up to this point, that&#8217;s been [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Just a quick update. A few days ago, I posted about the Blogger to WordPress migration and I&#8217;ve  now settle on a theme, but have been working to fix several broken links. I&#8217;m going through and fixing each of the broken links with the help of a handy plugin. Up to this point, that&#8217;s been the only real headache I&#8217;ve faced with the transition. I&#8217;m blown away with all the available WordPress plugins and even though I have some links to fix, I&#8217;m happy I made this decision.</p><p>Again, thanks for your patience. Upon completion, I think you&#8217;ll love the new and improved Eazy Cheezy site. <img
src='http://www.fivefreeapps.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt="icon smile WordPress Migration, Quick Update" class='wp-smiley' title="WordPress Migration, Quick Update" /></p><div
style='clear:both'></div>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/03/wordpress-migration-quick-update.html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>1</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Eazy Cheezy Migrating from Blogger to WordPress</title><link>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/03/eazy-cheezy-migrating-from-blogger-to-wordpress.html</link> <comments>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/03/eazy-cheezy-migrating-from-blogger-to-wordpress.html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2009 01:43:00 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Brian Mongold</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[blogger]]></category> <category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category> <category><![CDATA[movies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[domain]]></category> <category><![CDATA[wordpress]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.eazycheezy.net/2009/03/eazy-cheezy-migrating-from-blogger-to-wordpress.html</guid> <description><![CDATA[<a
onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:hUFm8dh1eWVDoM:http://sonicko.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/wordpress.jpg"></a>The time has come! I&#8217;ve been kicking around the idea of migrating Eazy Cheezy from a Blogger Platform to WordPress for quite some time. Both Blogger and WordPress have advantages and disadvantages, but I personally wanted to get more experience with WordPress. Learning how to transition is also kinda fun [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div
style="text-align: justify;"><a
onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:hUFm8dh1eWVDoM:http://sonicko.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/wordpress.jpg"><img
style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 130px;" src="http://tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:hUFm8dh1eWVDoM:http://sonicko.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/wordpress.jpg" alt="wordpress Eazy Cheezy Migrating from Blogger to Wordpress" border="0" title="Eazy Cheezy Migrating from Blogger to Wordpress" /></a>The time has come! I&#8217;ve been kicking around the idea of migrating <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Eazy</span> <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Cheezy</span> from a Blogger Platform to <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">WordPress</span> for quite some time. Both Blogger and <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">WordPress</span> have advantages and disadvantages, but I personally wanted to get more experience with <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">WordPress</span>. Learning how to transition is also kinda fun for me, as crazy as that sounds. <img
src='http://www.fivefreeapps.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt="icon smile Eazy Cheezy Migrating from Blogger to Wordpress" class='wp-smiley' title="Eazy Cheezy Migrating from Blogger to Wordpress" /></div><div
style="text-align: justify;"><span
style="font-weight: bold;"><span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Eazy</span> <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Cheezy</span> will remain at <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">EazyCheezy</span>.Net</span>, so no need to update your bookmarks. Once it&#8217;s complete, it may look a bit different, but will feature all the same quality content.</div><p><div
style="text-align: justify;">Blogger is simple and easy to learn. The basic templates lack design quality, but there are custom Blogger templates that are quite attractive. With Blogger, you can choose to host a free blog or get a domain for $10 a year with <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">GoDaddy</span>. Blogger doesn&#8217;t feature <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">plugins</span>, as <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">WordPress</span> does, but there&#8217;s extensive widgets that can be found around the net. Overall, Blogger has been good to me, but I have a desire to learn more and try <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">WordPress</span>.</p><p><span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">WordPress</span> is a more professional platform for blogging. It&#8217;s more expensive, since you need to host your site. I chose to go with <a
href="https://www.bluehost.com/"><span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">BlueHost</span></a>, spending approximate $94 for one year of hosting. I didn&#8217;t mind doing so since I just received my first $100 Check from Google AdSense. With <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">WordPress</span>, I&#8217;m hoping to have a better design, more functionality with the available <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">plugins</span> and may look into implementing a community forum in the future.</p><p>To migrate from Blogger to <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">WordPress</span>, I am currently using <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">MamaBlogga&#8217;s</span> <a
href="http://www.mamablogga.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-migrating-from-blogger-to-wordpress/">New Ultimate Guide  to Migrating from Blogger to <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">WordPress</span></a>. I&#8217;ve completed step 4 of her steps and am now waiting for the <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">WordPress</span> Install to complete. Once the <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">WordPress</span> install is complete, I&#8217;ll be referencing <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Sparkplugging&#8217;s</span> <a
href="http://www.sparkplugging.com/sparkplug-ceo/a-wordpress-quickstart-guide-wordpress-hosting-and-installation/">A <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">WordPress</span> <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">QuickStart</span> Guide &#8211; <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">WordPress</span> Hosting and Configuration</a>.</p><p>I&#8217;ll be sure to document the migration process and provide any difficulties, lessons learned, or tips I learn along the way. Stay tuned, changes are upon us!</div><div
class="blogger-post-footer"><hr
/> <a
href="http://www.eazycheezy.net/">Eazy Cheezy</a></div><div
style='clear:both'></div>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/03/eazy-cheezy-migrating-from-blogger-to-wordpress.html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>3</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Search Engine Optimization: SEO Hacks for Blogger Blogs</title><link>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/02/search-engine-optimization-seo-hacks-for-blogger-blogs.html</link> <comments>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/02/search-engine-optimization-seo-hacks-for-blogger-blogs.html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Tue, 24 Feb 2009 01:45:00 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Brian Mongold</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[blogger]]></category> <category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category> <category><![CDATA[hacks]]></category> <category><![CDATA[seo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[traffic]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.eazycheezy.net/2009/02/search-engine-optimization-seo-hacks-for-blogger-blogs.html</guid> <description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m sure many of you have heard about SEO, which is short for <a
href="/?p=76">Search Engine Optimization</a>. This is one area that I am still learning &#38; looking to improve in. If you&#8217;ve been reading Eazy Cheezy, you know that when I learn something, I like to share.</p><p>SEO is the process of improving your [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div
style="text-align: justify;">I&#8217;m sure many of you have heard about <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">SEO</span>, which is short for <a
href="/?p=76">Search Engine Optimization</a>. This is one area that I am still learning &amp; looking to improve in. If you&#8217;ve been reading <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Eazy</span> <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Cheezy</span>, you know that when I learn something, I like to share.</p><p><span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">SEO</span> is the process of improving your site&#8217;s results in search results, such as Google, Yahoo, etc. Optimizing your content and site for search engines helps to increase the likelihood of your content displaying closer to the front. i.e. Prior to optimizing my &#8220;Free Sites to Watch TV, Movies &amp; Sports Online&#8221; post, if you typed in &#8220;free sites to watch movies&#8221; into Google, you&#8217;d find it positioned on page 4 or 5. With the <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">SEO</span> techniques I applied below, the same string of characters will now let you find the same post on page 1 of <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Google&#8217;s</span> search results.</div><p><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); font-weight: bold;"> Strong Article Titles<br
/></span><span
style="font-weight: bold;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); font-weight: bold;">+ Effective Keywords </span><br
/><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); font-weight: bold;"> + <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">SEO</span></span><br
/><span
style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">=  Better Results in Search Engines, which lead to More Visitors</span></span></p><p>Below, you&#8217;ll find a few <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">SEO</span> tips I&#8217;ve learned and have already applied. Tips 3 and 5 aren&#8217;t necessarily <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">SEO</span> tips, but ones that improve upon the site&#8217;s functionality &amp; usability.<div
style="text-align: justify;"><span
style="font-weight: bold;">1. Inserted Meta Tags</span> utilizing tips from <a
href="http://www.ourblogtemplates.com/2008/01/how-to-add-meta-tags-into-your-blog.html">Our Blogger Templates</a>. I added the blog name, my name and my blog description (full sentence, but heavy on keywords).</p><p>Meta tags are very significant to <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">SEO</span> since they help Search Engines more accurately index your pages. I look at Meta tags as a translator for Search Engines. We plug in information to Meta Tags and the Meta Tags translates the information so the Search Engines better understand.</p><p><span
style="font-weight: bold;">2.</span> <span
style="font-weight: bold;">Added &#8220;Alt Tags&#8221; &amp; <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">clickable</span> links to images</span> referencing <a
href="http://www.techknowl.com/2008/11/optimize-images-in-blogger-for-search.html"><span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Techknowl</span></a>. I uploaded some of my pictures to <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Photobucket</span> and added &#8220;alt tags&#8221; &amp; a <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">clickable</span> link. Then re-added those images to Blogger, using the HTML/Java Widget.</p><p>Alt tags are important for a few reasons. If there&#8217;s a problem displaying your image, it will look for alt tags to display as a backup. It can also help those images appear in search results.</p><p><span
style="font-weight: bold;">3. Changed reference link of uploaded screenshot images</span> so they point to the site they were referencing. Before if you clicked on the image, you&#8217;d just get an enlarged version of the image on a blank page, which added no value. Now, click on the image and it will take you directly to the link. I used <a
href="http://www.doobix.com/codes/blogger/image-codes/image-codes-adding-links-to-images.html">this <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">doobix</span> entry</a> to help with the code.</p><p>This removes an annoyance &amp; improves the usability of the articles. I doubt I&#8217;ll ever have the time to go through all 200+ posts I&#8217;ve had &amp; apply this, but I&#8217;ve implemented it with newer and popular posts.</p><p><span
style="font-weight: bold;">4. </span><span
style="font-weight: bold;">Optimized My Header Image</span> using <a
href="http://tingplik.blogspot.com/2008/05/add-picture-banner-link-to-blogger.html"><span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">tingsplick</span></a>. I uploaded my original header image to <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Photobucket</span>, added &#8220;alt tags&#8221; then utilized the tips within the link to remove my header.</p><p>This enabled me to replace the standard Blogger Header. You&#8217;re limited with the Blogger Header and unable to add Alt Tags.</p><p><span
style="font-weight: bold;">5. Added a &#8220;Related Articles&#8221;</span> <span
style="font-weight: bold;">Widget</span> to my Blogger site, using <a
href="http://hoctro.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-and-improved-related-articles.html"><span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Hoctro&#8217;s</span> New &amp; Improved &#8220;Related Articles&#8221; Widget Using <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Google&#8217;s</span> Ajax <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">API</span></a>.</p><p>This took a bit to get right, but now that I figured it out, it works pretty well. I still need to figure out how to move the Related Articles Widget above my comment section, but the Widget works quite well and will save me time since I will no longer need to manually search for Related Posts. It displays related posts, based on the &#8220;Labels&#8221; you add to your posts.</p><p><span
style="font-weight: bold;">Resources</span><br
/><a
href="http://www.problogger.net/archives/2005/08/15/search-engine-optimization-for-blogs/">Search Engine Optimization for Blogs</a><br
/><a
href="http://www.seobook.com/join/"><span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">SEO</span> Training</a><br
/>101 <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">SEO</span> Tools<br
/><a
href="http://www.seobook.com/archives/001792.shtml">101 Link Building Tips to Market Your Website</a><br
/><a
href="http://courtneytuttle.com/2007/04/09/102-ways-to-make-your-blog-or-site-a-back-link-superstar/">102 Ways to Make Your Site a <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Backlink</span> Superstar</a><br
/><a
href="http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-09-16-n52.html">Top Search Engine Marketing Tools</a><br
/><a
href="http://courtneytuttle.com/blogs-that-follow/">D-List 200+ sites that have their &#8220;no follow&#8221; link disabled</a><br
/><a
href="http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/10/14/how-to-get-search-engine-traffic-to-your-blog/">How to Get Search Engine Traffic to Your Blog</a></p><p>I hope you&#8217;ve enjoyed and learned a bit from the hacks that I&#8217;ve provided above. As I touched upon earlier, I&#8217;m definitely no <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">SEO</span> expert, nor do I claim to be. Like many of you, I&#8217;m learning all I can to better improve upon my site. Do you have any <span
class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">SEO</span> tips or hacks you&#8217;d like to share? Have you attempted any of the ones above? I&#8217;d love a good SEO discussion, since it can help us all learn more. Feel free to share your input.</div><div
class="blogger-post-footer"><hr
/> <a
href="http://www.eazycheezy.net/">Eazy Cheezy</a></div><div
style='clear:both'></div>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/02/search-engine-optimization-seo-hacks-for-blogger-blogs.html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>11</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>3 Effective and Visually Appealing Label Clouds for Blogger</title><link>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/01/3-effective-and-visually-appealing-label-clouds-for-blogger.html</link> <comments>http://www.fivefreeapps.com/2009/01/3-effective-and-visually-appealing-label-clouds-for-blogger.html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Sun, 04 Jan 2009 22:20:00 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Brian Mongold</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[blogger]]></category> <category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category> <category><![CDATA[labels]]></category> <category><![CDATA[widgets]]></category> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.eazycheezy.net/2009/01/3-effective-and-visually-appealing-label-clouds-for-blogger.html</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Are you tired of the generic &#38; boring option Blogger provides for adding labels to your blog? If you are looking to add a nice, visually pleasing label cloud to your site, I found 3 excellent options. I&#8217;m a big fan of each &#38; I&#8217;m currently using 2 of the 3 on my sites.</p><p>Label [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Are you tired of the generic &amp; boring option Blogger provides for adding labels to your blog? If you are looking to add a nice, visually pleasing label cloud to your site, I found 3 excellent options. I&#8217;m a big fan of each &amp; I&#8217;m currently using 2 of the 3 on my sites.</p><p>Label Clouds provide a better visual method of displaying your tags and labels on your blog. It enables readers to click tags &amp; find your categorized posts. In searching the web, I chose the 3 best options I found that are very useful &amp; appealing. You can also fully customize each. The instructions are very straight forward, but I recommend taking a look at the <span
style="font-weight: bold;">&#8220;Key Considerations Prior to Installing</span>,&#8221; below before proceeding.</p><p><span
style="font-weight: bold;">1. </span><a
href="http://phy3blog.googlepages.com/Beta-Blogger-Label-Cloud.html">Phydeaux3&#8242;s Label Cloud</a> <span
style="font-style: italic;">(Works with New Blogger)</span><br
/> Phydeaux3 provides detailed instructions to install and customize this label cloud. My favorite feature of this label cloud is it displays number of posts as you scroll over each label.</p><p><a
href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fxh7MS38p_A/SWEXtPw40EI/AAAAAAAABcw/0nTiiMNnIds/s1600-h/phydeaux3.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><span
style="font-weight: bold;">2.</span> <a
href="http://www.bloggerbuster.com/2008/08/blogumus-flash-animated-label-cloud-for.html">Blogger Buster &#8211; Blogumus A Flash Animated Label Cloud</a> <span
style="font-style: italic;">(Works with Blogger)</span><br
/> Blogger Buster shows you how to install &amp; customize this animated flash-based label cloud that was based off a WordPress plug-in. It&#8217;s very visually appealing &amp; the easiest of the 3 to install. The tags swirl using a circular motion &amp; looks great! I installed it and am using it at <a
href="http://www.eazycheezy.net/about/my-blogging-experience-in-2008">Eazy Entertainment</a>.</p><p><a
href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fxh7MS38p_A/SWEfxxP-SFI/AAAAAAAABc4/jKNCViMXNvQ/s1600-h/blogumus.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><span
style="font-weight: bold;">3.</span> <a
href="http://www.compender.com/2007/12/simple-tag-cloud.html">Compender &#8211; A Simple Blogger Tag Cloud</a> <span
style="font-style: italic;">(Works with Blogger)</span><br
/> This a simple, yet effective Label Cloud that I chose to use on Eazy Cheezy. I like the simplicity of it and it was exactly what I was looking for.</p><p><a
href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fxh7MS38p_A/SWEkFSQgA7I/AAAAAAAABdA/Dw89tvSFIJE/s1600-h/compender.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><span
style="font-weight: bold;"><br
/> Key Considerations</span><span
style="font-weight: bold;"> Prior to Installing;</span><br
/> <span
style="font-weight: bold;">1.</span> Add the &#8220;Labels&#8221; Gadget prior to installing any of the below. To add &#8220;Labels,&#8221; login to <a
href="http://www.blogger.com/home">Blogger</a>, click &#8220;Layout&#8221; &amp; &#8220;Add a Gadget.&#8221;</p><p><a
href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fxh7MS38p_A/SWEvV5t1moI/AAAAAAAABdY/PMxiShVICwA/s1600-h/add+a+gadget.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a></p><p>Find &#8220;Labels &#8221; &amp; click the + to Add it to your template.</p><p><a
href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fxh7MS38p_A/SWE1EHPQmUI/AAAAAAAABdo/zGER7v-OxxU/s1600-h/labels.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a></p><p><span
style="font-weight: bold;">2. </span>Always Backup Your Template. To do this, click on the Layout Tab, then Edit HTML. You&#8217;ll then find the &#8220;Download Full Template&#8221; option. You can save the full template to your computer.</p><p><a
href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fxh7MS38p_A/SWEwFisZUQI/AAAAAAAABdg/swGy3Kjxwcg/s1600-h/backup.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a></p><p>The label clouds can enhance your reader&#8217;s experience by giving them an easier way to search your previous posts. They are much more visually appealing than the default blogger labels. Perhaps the most difficult task is properly labeling your posts. I&#8217;m in the process of going back to my earliest posts &amp; tagging in a more effective and smarter way. When I started blogging, I didn&#8217;t know what I was doing with the tags. <img
src='http://www.fivefreeapps.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt="icon smile 3 Effective and Visually Appealing Label Clouds for Blogger" class='wp-smiley' title="3 Effective and Visually Appealing Label Clouds for Blogger" /> Hope you find this helpful. If you have any other great label clouds you&#8217;d like to recommend, please feel free to share.</p><div
class="blogger-post-footer"><hr
/><a
href="http://www.eazycheezy.net/">Eazy Cheezy</a></div><div
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