Are you a blogger who wants to make your blog look more professional?
Whoever you are, you can create a polished looking website easily through Blogger. Don’t worry about the start, as I will give you some tips on how to make Blogger look like a website.
Blogging with Blogger
When you think about blogging, the first thing that comes to mind is WordPress. It’s understandable since at least 37 million websites use WordPress.
Unfortunately, some people think that WordPress.org is not serving its purpose as a completely user-friendly CMS. For some people who need more of a straightforward alternative, it simply doesn’t work.
Don’t worry, as there’s a solution to this problem – Blogger.
There are several reasons why Blogger is a good alternative for WordPress. It has a quick set-up and registration process. After you register, you can begin writing your content right away.
Blogger’s ownership is transferred to Google when it bought Pyra Labs in 2003. Being under Google’s ownership means that Blogger is integrated with their other products. You can share space with both Gmail and Google Drive. Your photos are also stored in Google Photos.
What’s even better, you don’t need to pay extra for hosting. Google hosts Blogger on their own servers.
You don’t need to worry about security either. Everything is taken care of by the support system. Furthermore, you’ll be getting lots of features from Blogger for **free**!
Blogger’s only setback is its layout. The design is plain and minimalistic. Fortunately, you can always customize it.
To customize your Blogger site’s layout, go to your **Theme** setting on your dashboard and click **Customize**.
Blogger will bring you to its theme section. Go to **Advance**, scroll down click **Add CSS**. Enter the code in the space provided, and press **Apply to Blog**. It’s as simple as that!
Don’t worry about making custom CSS. There are lots of free CSS sheets for Blogger themes floating around the internet. Google will definitely help find something you like.
If you need a simple platform for a professional website that won’t require large feature sets – Blogger is absolutely great.
Here are some steps on how to create a professional website using Blogger:
To help you create a professional-looking, amazing Blogger site, I have provided 7 tips for you below:
**1. Buy a Domain Name**
When you register with Blogger, blogger will provide you a website’s address which have an additional subdomain – **blogspot.com**. For example, if you want myblogginglife **as your site’s address, it will come out as **myblogginglife.blogspot.com****.
Using a subdomain is simply not very professional, and shows that you’re not willing to invest in your project. Therefore, you should remove Blogger subdomain.
You can remove the subdomain by buying a domain from a registrar such as Hostinger. Check your domain’s availability, purchase it, and you’re all set.
You can add your newly-bought domain easily by going to **Settings** -> **Basic**. There you will find domain options under the **Publishing** section.
Click **Set up a third-party URL for your blog**, and Blogger will give you the option to edit the domain. When you’re done, press **Save**.
**2. Create Your Own Logo and Favicon**
A logo is another way to present your brand and identity. Your products, your vision, mission ‒ a logo must be able to showcase all of them. If you create a representative logo, it will help stand out among others.
There are ways to create your logo without spending a cent. The first option is the Zyro Logo Maker; it is an entirely free tool. The second option would be SoThink Logo Maker Professional. It offers a 30-day free trial for new users.
After you create your logo, you can place it anywhere you like. However, there is a place you **must** put the logo ‒ it’s called the favicon.
A favicon is the icon located on the left of your website’s name as shown in the screenshot above. Adding a favicon is an excellent little detail that shouldn’t be overlooked. It shows that you do care about your website’s appearance, and helps it stand out between tons of browser tabs.
A single favicon’s size should not be more than 100 KB between 50 KB to 100 KB will be good.
Adding favicon is very easy. First Go to the **Layout** section on your Blogger dashboard. Favicon options are located at the top-top. Click **Edit** in the **Favicon** section.
Blogger will bring you to a new tab. There, upload the icon you want. After clicking **Save**, Blogger will refresh itself, and your favicon will appear.
**3. Customize Your Template**
A template is Blogger’s answer to WordPress themes – defining how your website is displayed on the internet.
Although Blogger has its own default theme, since its a basic template, it is essential that you tweak it to some extent. Your template’s primary color, main display, and other template-related aspects also represent you professionally. The more unique your template is, the more memorable it’ll be for your audience.
Of course, you must not forget ease-of-use. You need to make sure that users can go through your website smoothly, without needing to stop and think of where something might be.
There are several places where you can get Blogger templates – Blogger Templates, WebLyb, Colorlib, and Theme Forest, to name a few. There you’ll find both free and premium options for you to choose from.
Editing of the template can be done in two ways ‒ CSS or HTML. Since I mentioned how to manage a theme through CSS earlier, I will help you edit the template through HTML.
First, go to the **Theme** section, press **Edit HTML**. Blogger will then provide you an area to input the HTML code. After you’re done, press **Save Theme**and you are done.
**4. Adding Important Pages**
Now that you have tweaked your website layout and favicon, it’s time to move on to pages.
The great thing about Blogger is that it lets you add up to 20 menus under your header. For a professional website, you will need several static pages. Moreover, the menus can be used as shortcuts to access those static pages.
To create a professional website, you need to have the necessary pages ‒ Home, About, FAQ, and Contact.
**Home** is the main display of your website. It is what people see first when they go to your site.
Meanwhile, the **About** page is the place where you can introduce your product’s history, vision, mission, and – of course – yourself. If you are doing personal branding, the page is used to tell your history.
A **FAQ** (Frequently Asked Questions) is used to answers the most common questions asked by users.
If users want to ask things not shown on the FAQ, you should point them to a way of contacting you. A **Contact** section could be presented as a static page too.
Afterward, you can add other pages relevant to your niche. If you’re a designer, you can add a “Portfolio” page. A writer can create a “Stories List” page. Add as many pages as you want, as long as they are relevant to your focus.
Here is how you add a page to your Blogger site:
You can create your page by going to the **Pages** section. After you have written your content, hit **Publish**.
There are several locations where you can place a link to an important page – those are the **top menu**, **left sidebar**, and **right sidebar**.
If you want to place it at the top, press **Edit** in the Top Menu section. Tick your desired page, and you are good to go.
However, if you want to place the pages at the sidebar, click **Add a Gadget**.
A pop-out window will appear ‒ press **Page**, where you can tick your desired pages. Click **Save**, and you’re done!
**5. Adding Relevant Features**
There are other features you can use on Blogger such as AdSense, subscription links, and other gadgets that are found in the layout section.
You can also add a Paypal button in your website if you want to sell products. PayPal offers various kinds of buttons you can paste in the **HTML/JavaScript** section through Blogger’s settings and those will appear on the blogger.
If you have social media related to your website, you can add buttons that will take visitors directly to the platform. Some companies offer automatic social media widgets such as POWr.
Remember to use widgets sparingly. No need to bulk up your site.
**6. Optimize Your Site for Mobile Devices**
The computer is not the only device people use to open websites nowadays. A study in 2016 stated that the usage of mobile internet keeps rising 16% year over year. This makes responsive design a **must** for any professional content creator**.**
Responsive design is a practice that works towards creating sites that look great and function perfectly on any kind of screen – from desktop to mobile phone.
Thankfully, Blogger has a special section for mobile layouts. It is located under the **Theme **settings. Click the wheel under **Mobile** to edit your mobile theme.
7. Use Custom sharing button and track through analytics
Social sharing button are generally used to generate traffic on your website. You are spend a lot of time in writing great content. Social sharing buttons provides capability to your users and visitors to share the great content.
You can use Social9 Social sharing buttons which allows you to customize sharing buttons according to your theme and analytics so that you can track you URL.
You can do just one click setup to install beautiful button on your website. For details on installation please check the link. https://docs.social9.com/install/blogger/
That’s Pretty Much It!
Congratulations, you’ve made it! You can now create a professional website through Blogger. After all, Blogger’s integration with Google offers plenty of features. You can set it up and master it much easier than any other platform.
Here are some steps on how to create a professional website using Blogger:
- **Buy a domain name.** Use your own domain instead of Blogger’s subdomain.
- **Create your own logo and favicon.** Make a logo that represents your identity and brand. After that, you can use that logo as a favicon.
- **Customize your template**. Use a template that suits your niche best. Make sure the template stands out.
- **Add pages that are essential**. Create essential pages for your professional website.
- **Add additional features.** Add extra features and social media icons if you need them.
- **Optimize your site for mobile devices.** Customize your theme so it looks and works well on mobile devices.
- **Use Custom sharing button and track through analytics. **Add social sharing buttons for the website's growth.
If you want to create a professional website, why not start as soon as possible? Hope these tips help you along your journey!
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