How to Access Old Style Templates in Blogger (Blogspot)

"Can I still use the old default templates for my Blogger blog (Blogspot blog)?" is a frequent question I am asked on Blog Know How pretty often. Other people have asked me about the template I am using and how to get it. In answer to the first question as you can see older style templates do work on Blogger. And with respect to the second question the template I am using on Blog Know How is an enhanced version of the Rounders 3 Blogger template which is one of the older style default Blogger templates available from 2006 onwards.

In today's Blogger tutorial I am going to show you how to access the older style default Blogger templates (Blogspot templates) and activate them on your Blogger blog. This tutorial is mostly written for those new to Blogger who might not realise that there are a number of default Blogger layouts released in 2006 that are still perfectly usuable. Also there may be some of you who would like to revert back to an older style Blogger template but are not sure how to find the old templates on Blogger.

A Word of Warning First
At the outset I need to say that by applying an older style Blogger template to an existing blog you may lose some of the advanced design and layout features in the Blogger Template Designer. This may not be a drawback if you are happy to do a bit of tweaking and may actually be a far better alternative than downloading a free custom Blogger template that may have a host of compatibility problems with Blogger especially if it was released a while ago. There are some pretty good free custom Blogger templates out there and there are some which were thrown together and have all sorts of problems which are not easily solvable unless you know how to code in CSS.

So please be warned that you may potentially lose some features in converting to an older Blogger template. For instance if you are using the Simple default Blogger template and already have a three column layout selected with a 2 or 3 column footer then you will find that Blogger will revert to a two column layout and place all your widgets in the sidebar if you select an older style template. You will then need to manually add the footer and the extra sidebar. See my tutorials on how to add a 3 or 4 column footer to Blogger and how to manually add an extra column to Blogger for help with this.

I suggest before you start that you download a full back up of your template and that you upload this to a test blog to see how it looks rather than trying it out on a live blog. However if you decide go ahead and later change your mind and want to revert back to the one of the newer Blogger templates you will need to manually shift your widgets out of the sidebar using the drag and drop feature in Page Elements

How to Access Older Style Blogger (Blogspot) Templates

Note: These instructions assume you are using the updated Blogger interface. If you are using the old Blogger interface (you will have a message at the top of your blog "Try the updated Blogger interface") then start at step 3.

1. From Overview in the updated Blogger interface click on the wheel icon at the top right which will give you an array of Blogger options
   
2. Select the Older Blogger Interface from the drop down menu
   
   
   
3. The older style Blogger Dashboard will now be visible and displaying a list of blogs if you have more than one otherwise just the one. Click on Design from the list of links under the blog title you wish to apply the older Blogger template to.
   
   
4. Click on the Edit HTML link located under the Blogger tabs menu
   
   
   
5. Once on the Edit HTML page scroll to the bottom of the page and on the left you will see a heading entitled Old Templates. Click on the Select Layout Templates from the list. Avoid the Classic templates as these date from Blogger's first inception and are really too old to be of use.
   
   
   
6. You will now be on the older style Blogger templates page and can scroll through and select a template. Use the preview link to see how your blog looks with one of the older style templates applied. I use the Rounders 3 for Blog Know How by the way although I have adapted it to a 3 column layout.
   
   
   
7. Once you are sure you want to change over to an older style template click on the save button to apply the older style default Blogger template to your Blogspot blog.
   
8. Click on View Blog at the right of the menus tabs to view your changes and navigate around your blog.

Today I have shown you how to change your Blogger blog over to one of the older style Blogger templates. Remember that in doing so you may sacrifice some of the advanced layout and design features available in Template Designer but it will give you the option of more template options and a time-saving alternative to having to download and try out heaps of free custom Blogger templates available on the internet only to find they don't work properly. And remember that even with free custom Blogger templates most do not work with Blogger Template Designer. Having to manually add a footer or an extra column to your Blogger blog are really minor changes if everything else is working fine.

Add Meta Tags to Blogger for Better SEO

In this Blogger tutorial I will show you the best way to add meta tags to your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog) to improve the SEO of your blog and work around the limitations of the Blogger platform.

I have observed that there are many Blogger help blogs out there telling you to just add meta tags however this will very likely achieve the opposite result from the one you are after. Whether you are yet to add meta tags or you have added meta tags already make sure you read and follow the methods contained in this article to get the best results.

What are Meta Tags?
Meta tags are HTML tags that provide additional information about your blog that is unseen by visitors but available to search engines. The meta description tag, for example, provides a short summary of the page content. The keyword meta tags show the keywords and keyword phrases a visitor might use to find your blog. Because of abuse of meta tags search engines have become smarter and most no longer place emphasis on keywords to establish page ranking however keyword meta tags are still used by some search engines so it is a good idea to include them.

Limitations of Blogger and SEO
One of the disappointing aspects of Blogger is that it is not properly optimized for SEO. Meta descriptions and keywords are not supported by blogger.com by default. Title tags are also not optimized. This means that you will miss valuable opportunities to attract visitors to your blog. 

However meta tags and meta descriptions can be inserted into your Blogger template (Blogspot template) to good effect. Fortunately these work arounds will go a long way to improving the placement of your blog in search engine results. Please refer to adjust Blogger title tags for improved SEO for help with title tags.

Simply placing a meta tag description in your Blogger template is problematic because Blogger will use the same meta tags for all pages in your blog. This means that every entry that Google has for your site will show in search results with the same description. This solution would result in reduced traffic rather than increased traffic. However there is a way to add meta tags to the home page of your blog only which will not affect post pages in your blog. In this way visitors will find the home page of your blog in search engines by the use of appropriate keywords and a site description.

How to Add Meta Tags to a Blogger Blogspot Blog Home Page
1. Login to Blogger if not already logged in

2. Navigate to Design > Edit HTML

3. Back up your template as a precaution by downloading full template to your computer.

4. Check the Expand Widget Templates box

5. Find these lines which will be near the top of your template:

<head>
<b:include data='blog' name='all-head-content'/>
<title><data:blog.pageTitle/></title>

6. Paste the following code immediately below <title><data:blog.pageTitle/></title>

<b:if cond='data:blog.url == data:blog.homepageUrl'>
<meta content='Place your blog description here' name='description'/>
<meta content='Place your blog keywords here(separated by commas)'
name='keywords'/>
</b:if>

7. Enter your blog description between the single quote marks under description. Maximum 150 characters

8. Enter the keywords of your blog between the single quote marks under keywords. Ensure you separate each keyword or keyword phrase by a comma. Make sure your keywords do not exceed 200 characters

By way of example here are the meta tags I use for the home page of Blog Know How:

<b:if cond='data:blog.url == data:blog.homepageUrl'>
<meta content='Find tips,tricks,tutorials,walkthroughs to customize your Blogger Blogspot blog.SEO,Banners,Adsense,gadgets,fixes,feeds,rss,help for beginner bloggers' name='description'/>
<meta content='blog,blogger,blogger.com,blogspot.com,blogspot,blogging,tutorials,tips,blogger help,customize blogger,SEO,make money,gadgets,Google Adsense,banners, feeds,analytics,solutions'
name='keywords'/>
</b:if>

9. Click on the Save Template button

10. To see your description in action you can either navigate to your blog's home page and click on view source in your browser. In Internet Explorer you will find this option in the view menu. A text document will appear which you can scroll through. You will see your description near the top of the document. Alternatively you can check your description in a free Meta Tag Analyzer tool such as Submit Express orSEO Centro


How to Add Meta Tags to a Blogger Blogspot Blog Individual Post
1. Follow steps 1 to 4 as for adding meta tags to the Home Page

2. Add the following in the <head> section of your Blogger template. Enter this code below the Home Page code above you have just entered:

<b:if cond='data:blog.url == "http://url of your post"'>
<meta content='keywords pertaining to your post' name='keywords'/>
<meta content='crafted description of your post' name='description'/>
</b:if>

Here is an example of optimized meta tags for this post:


<b:if cond='data:blog.url == "http://blogknowhow.blogspot.com/2009/05/add-meta-tags-to-blogger-for-better-seo.html"'>
<meta content='meta tags,optimize blogger,blogger SEO,search engine optimization, blogspot,blogger,blogspot.com,blogger.com,blogging,blog' name='keywords'/>
<meta content='Improve SEO by adding meta tags to your Blogger Blogspot blog. Step by step tutorial shows you how to add meta tags to the home page and a single post' name='description'/>
</b:if>

3. Add your post URL, keywords and description. To find the URL of your post navigate to the post's page and copy the link showing in the address bar of your browser including the http:// prefix 

4. Click on the Save Template button

5. To check your description you can use the view source in your browser once you have navigated to the post page or a meta tag analyzer

Note: This method is suitable if you have a few key posts that you want to ensure you get maximum traffic on. If you have a lot of posts this manual method would be very tedious. I don't know of any automated method or script to add meta tags at this point but I am investigating it and will keep you posted.


Analyze Your Blogspot Blogger Meta Tags
Once you have added meta tags to your blog you can use tools to analyze them to ensure their relevance. Aim for meta tag relevancy to page content of above 90%. To check this you can use a free meta tag analyzer tool such as Submit Express or SEO Centro


Troubleshooting and Tips

• Observe Character Limits
  To avoid problems ensure that you keep within the maximum character limits:
  

  Title Tag - Maximum Characters is 60
  Site Description - Maximum Characters is 150
  Keywords - Maximum Characters is 200

  
  
• Title Tag Tweak
  If you have inserted the title tag tweak and it is highly recommended that you do so then you will need to add the code above after the title tag adjustment in the <head> section of your template. Read more about adjusting title tags
  
• Keywords
  Although some search engines no longer place too much emphasis on keywords some still do so it is worth adding keywords. Avoid using the same keyword more than 3 times. The maximum number of keywords recommended to be robot friendly is around 20.
  
• Problems Reading the Code
  Some readers have reported problems with their browser reading this code. Try this document form of the article if this happens to you

In this Blogger meta tag tutorial I have discussed the best way to add meta tags to a Blogger blog (Blogspot blog) to improve search engine results given the limitations of the Blogger platform. In this article you have learned to add both meta tags for keywords and descriptions to the home page. You have also learned how to add meta tags to an individual post. To optimize your meta tags I have included links to free meta tag analyzer tools.

Make Money With Adsense Keywords and Blogger

If you are new to blogging with Blogger (Blogspot) and wondering how to make money with Adsense this article is for you. If you have Google Adsense on your blog but are disappointed with the revenue generated so far then read on. Even if Google Adsense is performing well for you I am going to give you some tips that will mean you will earn extra money from Google Adsense.

Why Are Keywords So Important for Bloggers?
In order to make money from blogging with Blogger it is important first to understand the significance of keywords and keyword phrases. Via Google Adwords, the sister of Google Adsense, advertisers bid for keywords and keyword phrases. The more frequently these keyword terms are searched for the higher their value. That is why keyword phrases like make money or make money online which receive a huge number of monthly searches are top paying keywords and are worth so much to advertisers.


To make money with Google Adsense all you need do once your blog is receiving traffic is sign up with Google Adsense, receive a unique code and then place Google Adsense ads on your Blogger blog. These ad units are targeted automatically based on the keywords and keyword phrases which appear in the content of your posts. You get paid for every click on one of your Google Adsense ads. The amount you get paid is determined by the value of the keyword or keyword phrases used.

As a webpublisher it is important to be mindful when crafting your content that you use Google keywords and keyword phrases relevant to your blog's content. This does not mean that you stuff your posts with Google keywords to generate higher Google Adsense payments. In fact having too many keywords is known as keyword stuffing and could mean your blog is penalized by Google. A good rule of thumb is to have 3-5% of your content made up of your blog's keywords. A keyword density over 7% is too high and risks penalty.

For help with adding Google Adsense ad units to your Blogger blog please refer to my article Blogger Guide to Google Adsense Placement

Find The Best Google Keywords for Your Blog
These days many bloggers wanting to make money with Adsense build their blogs based on Google keywords. Their plan is to achieve first page positions on Google search pages for each of these keywords and keyword phrases. However, adopting this strategy from the outset would not be the case for most bloggers. Most of us start a blog about something we are interested in and then decide that we would like to make money with Google Adsense.

If Google keywords for your blog is not something that you have paid much attention to up to now then you may be surprised at what a difference it will make to your Google Adsense earnings and SERPs (search engine results page). Just by figuring out your keywords and emphasizing them in your blog posts you can expect to earn extra money with Google Adsense and Blogger. I did an exercise recently where I edited one of my earlier posts and added about 10 more keywords to the content. Not only did I move my article from about 60 in Google searches to 10 the revenue earned from Adsense for this article increased markedly too.

To determine what your keywords are for your blog you will need to conduct some research. Go to Google Adwords Keyword Tool and type in the topic of your blog. For instance if your blog is about making money online you would type in this phrase to receive other keywords that are related to your blog topic.

Try to identify about 10 to 15 Google keywords and keyword phrases that fit with your blog content. Print out this list and keep it handy so you can refer to it often when writing content for your blog.

Write an article around each of these Google keywords or keyword phrases. These 10 to 15 articles will become the backbone content of your blog. Research these articles by performing Google searches and reading what other bloggers who make it to the first couple of pages in the search engine results are writing about. Notice their keywords and keyword phrases, and the tags they have used. This research will help you identify two things:

• Any gaps not so well covered by fellow bloggers but relating well to your keywords. That will give you a nice opportunity to write a series of articles on the topic
  
• How other bloggers in your niche are tailoring their content for success and which keywords are performing well for them

Always write original content. Never copy another bloggers material. Despite being unethical to plagarize duplicated material is easy to identify and can mean that you get penalized by search engines like Google and run the risk of being banned from Google Adsense. My take on what is known as blog scraping is that if you need to copy what some else has written clearly you don't understand your blog topic well enough and you are probably better to write about something you do know something about. Your readers will see through you very quickly if you don't fully understand the depths of your blog topic. 

Google Adsense Tips for Blogspot Bloggers (Blogger Bloggers)

• Add Your Main Keyword to Your Title Tag
  Make sure that your main keyword for each of your 10-15 articles forms part of your title tag as this is important if your article is to rank highly in search engine results. If you can use two keywords or keyword phrases all the better. You will note that I have added three keywords in my title: make money,Google Adsense and Blogger.
  
• Use the Main Keyword in the Body of Your Posts
  Make sure you use the main keyword throughout the body of your article. Ensure that your main keyword appears in the first and last paragraph of your post. There are keyword density toolsavailable to help you check the ratio of keywords used.
  
• Make Sure You Tag Your Main Keyword
  Tagging your main keyword and other keywords and keyword phrases is also important if readers are to find your article. Your posts will do better in search engine results if they are appropriately tagged. And of course the better your blog is search engine optimized the more traffic your blog will receive and the greater the potential for Google Adsense revenue.
  
• Make Sure Your Blog is Search Engine Optimized
  Optimize your Blogger blog by adjusting your title tags and adding meta tags for better SEO. SEO is important as it generates search engine traffic and building traffic is paramount for high earnings from Google Adsense.
  
• Develop Backlinks for Your Blog
  Some of the factors that determine how high your articles will appear in search engine results are backlinks and the age of your blog. If you have some good backlinks to highly ranked websites your blog articles are likely to be promoted in search engine results. Use blog directories, forums, and comment on other blogs in your niche to build a good range of backlinks. Submit your best articles to article directories to generate traffic and links. Also submitting your article to social bookmarking sites like Digg and StumbleUpon can provide backlinks and boost traffic at the same time
  
• Give Your Old Blogger Posts a Keyword Makeover
  Go back through your previous blog posts and identify posts that are not receiving a lot of traffic. Read through them and look for opportunities to rewrite small portions of the content to insert keywords and keyword phrases. Check the tags too and add any keywords and keyword phrases that may help to boost traffic. Identify any posts that need to be rewritten from a slightly different angle and with more scope for the addition of keywords
  
• Publish Posts at Least 250-300 Words Long
  Check the number of your articles Google has indexed. Shorter articles can often be missed out particularly if your blog is only recently created. Plus shorter articles do not give enough scope for Google Adsense to necessarily know what keywords to target when serving ads.
  
• Optimize Google Adsense Placement, Size and Appearance
  Some locations for Google Adsense work better than others. Make sure you read up on Google Adsense placement as this will ensure you make the most money from your Adsense ads.
  
  Some Adsense ad unit sizes are better performers than others. My personal favorite is 336x280 ad unit which I use successfully on most of my blogs.
  
  Consider the appearance of your Adsense ad unit. Blend it in or make it stand out the choice is yours. 

In today's article I have discussed how to make money with Google Adsense and Blogger. I have paid close attention to the use of keywords and keyword phrases in your content as these are the basis for the ads served up by Google. Included in this article are tips on how to locate and identify your keywords, increase your keyword density and use keywords effectively along with other Adsense tips.