Tuesday, May 31, 2016

How to Add AdSense Page-level ads in Blogspot

Recently, page-level ads were made available for blogspot bloggers and webmasters which means that you can now display AdSense Ads right on your mobile templates. You can now monetize your efforts on the templates as you do with mobile apps thanks to the Google Admob Ads.

Why Choose AdSense Page-level ads?

There are a number of reasons why you choose page-level ads from AdSense to bolster your revenue stream.
  • Increase Revenues
  • Provide Better User Experience
  • Two New Formats
  • Doesn't Count Against 3 Ad Limit
  • Optimized and Responsive to Mobile Needs

Page-level Ad Formats

Today, the two types of page-level ads available include Anchors which are ads places at the bottom of the screen and Vignettes which are full screen ads that work similar to Admob's Interstitial adverts.
Vignettes tend to be more effective for mobile advertising.

how to add adsense page-level ads in blogspot

How to Setup Page-Level Ads in Blogspot Blogs

The good news is that you can install these ads from AdSense fairly quickly and easily thanks to the process which guides you through.

1. Log into your AdSense Account
2. Click on this link
3. Click the two toggle buttons to switch on "Anchor/overlay ads" and "Vignette ads"

enable adsense page-level ads in blogger

4. Scroll down and click the "Get Code" button

enable adsense page-level ads in blogger

5. Copy the code

google adsense page-level ads code

6. Go to Blogger, then Template and Backup your Template
7. Click the 'Edit HTML' button and search for the </head> tag
8. Paste the page-level ad code above the </head> tag

Note: You will also need to replace the attribute async with async="async" in order to help complete the process, otherwise Blogger will give you an error message. Once you have completed these steps, all you need to do is save it to your template.

Test Page-level ads in your Blogger template

After installation, get out your mobile device so you can test the AdSense page-level ads and see if they are working correctly. You will need to be a visitor to your site in order to check out the ads.
  • Type #googleads at the end of the URL so you can access them
  • Select the ad format from the tabbed box that will appear above the body of the blog
  • Check out the ads
You will get to see the ads in action before the public does so that you can tell if they are working fine. If you are impressed with what you see, then it is ready to go. However, if you see something that you want to change or if the ads are not present, you'll need to start over again.

The Effectiveness of Page-level ads

Since October, 2015 when these ads were first rolled out the effectiveness that they have demonstrated is considerable. Today, the ads have been used in countries all over the world and they continue to impress. For those who have already used these mobile ads on WordPress or other blogger blogs you can see just how effective they have been in terms of reaching all of your visitors. In addition, the effect on your revenue may be considerable depending on the popularity of your blog.

In the end, AdSense page-level ads are remarkably effective for mobile use and will help you build a stronger income base for your blog.

How to Fix Mixed Content Errors in Blogspot Blogs

With HTTPS now automatic in Blogger the benefits have been considerable. However, there are some issues that are now facing bloggers thanks to this change in policy and one of the most common is mixed content errors.

What are mixed content errors?

This is when a web page becomes secured by SSL, but it contains both secure HTTPS and also the non-secure HTTP which is usually links, scripts, style sheets, video, and images. This results in browser errors that negatively affect the performance of your website and cause security issues. This means that source codes such as template, layout gadget, and post and paste may be causing the issues in the HTML side of the equation.

http to https

How to identify mixed content errors?

This is a fairly straightforward process that you can use through Google Chrome:

1. Visit blog using HTTPS, for example - https://yourblog.blogspot.com
2. Access the Chrome Menu at the top-right of your browser window and go to "More Tools" > "Developer Tools" and switch to the "Console" tab or use the CTRL + SHIFT + J keys to open the JavaScript console
3. Look in the Console for mixed content errors which will look similar to these:

mixed content, chrome console

Examples of mixed content errors include, but are not limited to the following:

- Insecure Script Request
- Insecure Image Request
- Insecure URL Request

You should list all unsecured URLs and visit the other pages on your blog to check for other mixed content errors.

Fix the mixed content errors in a Blogger template

To fix the errors encountered which may be found in the template or layout, you will need to do the following:

1. Go to Blogger and select your blog, then click on "Template" and press the "Edit HTML" button
2. Click anywhere in the code area and press CTRL + F to search for http://

http:// to https:// blogger

3. Replace all http:// prefixes with https://

Verify that the new URLs using the HTTPS addresses work by opening them in a new window on your browser. If the links you are receiving provide the same results, then you can Save Template.

To check for layout errors:

Go to Blogger and click on 'Layout' > check for any HTML/JavaScript gadget and click 'Edit' on each gadget. Replace all http:// prefixes with https:// then verify that they are working and hit Save.

Fix the mixed content errors in Blogger posts and pages

To check for post and page errors, do the following:

1. Log into your Blogger Dashboard and select your blog, then click on 'Posts' or 'Pages' and select any post or page > hit the "Edit" link below the Post/Page title.

2. Once the Post editor opens, switch to the "HTML" tab and press CTRL + F keys to look for http:// prefixes. After you found them, replace http:// with https://

fix mixed content errrors

Be sure to verify that the new link works by opening up your browser and testing them. After you've tested them, hit Update.

Update to the Blogger post editor to fix mixed content

To find and fix mixed content errors automatically, Blogger has released a warning tool that alerts you to possible mixed content issues in your posts. All you need to do is go to "Edit" inside a post, switch to the "HTML" tab and hit the Update button. All of the errors will be presented along with the ability to fix them. Once they have been corrected, hit Update.

mixed content error

In the end, fixing these types of errors will greatly improve the performance of your blog, particularly when it comes to pages that may have this particular issue with mixed content generating errors. It also applies to custom domains as well as long as you have an SSL certificate. All it takes is a few minutes and you can greatly improve your blog site that has been impeded with mixed content errors.

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Automatic Featured Posts Slider Widget for Blogger

Anyone with a blog wants readers to stay rather than move on to another. It's not being selfish but after someone has read one post, you'd definitely want them to read another, right? After all, isn't it one of the tenets of SEO to make people stay longer on your blog if it has to have a fighting chance at the rankings game?

The question now is: how exactly do you entice them to read a few more of your blog posts?

First off, you don't know exactly what brought a reader to your site. Well, you sort of do, if you have Google Analytics and all that. But that's beside the point. It wouldn't be productive for you to stare at GA the entire day hoping that it will tell you that yes, someone has been perusing your blog.

The point being driven at here is that you have to offer more on your blog. It's not enough that you get traffic from search engines and other sites; you also have to add some extras that will entice visitors to stay longer.

How exactly do you do that?

The Tactics of Persuading Users to Stay

Bloggers have employed a variety of tactics to persuade readers to stay. For one, they load the sidebar with widgets for Popular Posts, for example. Of course, it would be in the interest of your readers to know which other posts on your blog are gaining traction. Maybe those pieces are of interest to them as well. As a result, you've got one surefire way of making readers stay.

Now, what if you want to highlight Featured Posts, for example? Let's say that your blog has been around for a number of years and in that span, it has produced some great content that received quite the number of shares, likes, +1s, comments on so on. Wouldn't that be the kind of post you want featured? Unless your reader was looking for that topic specifically, there's little chance that they might uncover that gem if you don't bring it to their attention.

Thankfully, it's quite possible to add a Featured Posts slider for Blogger. And if you don't know how to make one yourself, this is exactly what this post is for. Here's an awesome Featured Posts slider widget that you can use on your blog.




How to Add Featured Posts Slider Widget in Blogger

1. Go to 'Layout' > click the 'Add a gadget' link in the sidebar area and select 'HTML/JavaScript' gadget from the pop-up window.

2. Add the code below inside the empty box:
<style type="text/css">
ul.featured-widget-list,ul.featured-widget-list li{margin:0;padding:0;list-style:none;position:relative }ul.featured-widget-list li{display:none}ul.featured-widget-list li:nth-child(1){display:block;line-height:0}ul.featured-widget-list img{border:0;width:100%;height:auto}ul.featured-widget-list .featuredbg{width:100%;height:100%;position:absolute;z-index:2;left:0;top:0;opacity:.6;background-image:url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA-J46aB4Wjhq-s-WB37qrIE7k_Y9q0eplOQRWgdYC5B49NQoySRNRXpXGtCv5frZq1sjVKwM8x85uazKa4AeGeIbVdU-_XvarIc9zx6rKSfy50EhrqE_zXJFmS7wmTI0rLa5nNQ9RyF0/s400/overlay-bg.png);background-position:0% 100%;background-repeat:repeat-x}ul.featured-widget-list .featuredbg:hover{opacity:.1}ul.featured-widget-list h5{position:absolute;left:0;right:0;text-align:center;bottom:10px;z-index:2;color:#fff;margin:0;text-transform: capitalize;padding:10px 20px;line-height:1.9em;letter-spacing:0.3px;font: 600 16px 'Abel', sans-serif;overflow:hidden}ul.featured-widget-list li:hover h5{bottom:30px}ul.featured-widget-list .featured-meta{font: 11px 'Abel', sans-serif;letter-spacing:0.3px;position:absolute;bottom:0;left:0;right:0;text-align:center;z-index:2;color:#fff;opacity:0}ul.featured-widget-list h5, ul.featured-widget-list .featured-meta {-webkit-transition: all 0.3s;-moz-transition: all 0.3s;-o-transition: all 0.3s;transition: all 0.3s;}ul.featured-widget-list li:hover .featured-meta{bottom:20px;opacity:1}.feat-buttons{position:absolute;top:50%;left:0;z-index:5;width:100%}
.feat-buttons a{text-indent:-9999px;margin:0 7px;width:15px;height:15px;padding:5px;background:#000;-ms-filter:"progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Alpha(Opacity=60)";filter: alpha(opacity=60);-moz-opacity:0.6;-khtml-opacity:0.6;opacity:0.6;position:relative;-webkit-border-radius: 50%;-moz-border-radius: 50%;border-radius: 50%;}.feat-prev{float:left;}.feat-next{float:right;}.feat-buttons a.feat-prev::before, .feat-buttons a.feat-next::before{content:"";width:0;height:0;border-width:6px 7px;border-style:solid;border-color:transparent #fff transparent transparent;position:absolute;top:50%;margin-top:-6px;margin-left:-11px;left:50%}
.feat-buttons a.feat-next::before{border-color:transparent transparent transparent #fff;margin-left:-3px}
</style>
<div id="featuredbwidget"></div>
<link href='https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Abel' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'/>
<script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.8.0/jquery.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
featuredbwidget({
listURL:"https://blogger.chipchuck.com/",
featuredNum:9,
listbyLabel:false,
feathumbSize:350,
interval:3000,
autoplay:true,
featuredID:"#featuredbwidget"
});
function featuredbwidget(a){(function(e){var h={listURL:"",featuredNum:3,featuredID:"",feathumbSize:300,interval:5000,autoplay:false,loadingFeatured:"nextfeatured",pBlank:"https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk5WZNuwJFaj02MJ1kppjh2arcPGI7VeflLLUU1TQWctkSjCUQXzm6xlnfNr2B5-rEQtcrYELoxQ7lnlB5jUEKq_b7CVKslj1YUCY9Olr30Dbmo0_KYqxfLNZxpQSoZoXvQXkqsb93oCs/s500/no-image.png",byMonth:["Jan","Feb","Mar","Apr","May","Jun","Jul","Aug","Sep","Oct","Nov","Dec"],listbyLabel:false};h=e.extend({},h,a);var g=e(h.featuredID);var d=h.featuredNum*200;g.html('<div class="featslider"><ul class="featured-widget-list"></ul><div class="feat-buttons"><a href="#" class="feat-prev">Prev</a><a href="#" class="feat-next">Next</a></div></div>');var f=function(w){var q,k,m,u,x,p,t,v,r,l="",s=w.feed.entry;for(var o=0;o<s.length;o++){for(var n=0;n<s[o].link.length;n++){if(s[o].link[n].rel=="alternate"){q=s[o].link[n].href;break}}if("media$thumbnail" in s[o]){u=s[o].media$thumbnail.url.replace(/\/s[0-9]+\-c/g,"/s"+h.feathumbSize+"-c")}else{u=h.pBlank.replace(/\/s[0-9]+(\-c|\/)/,"/s"+h.feathumbSize+"$1")}k=s[o].title.$t;r=s[o].published.$t.substring(0,10);m=s[o].author[0].name.$t;x=r.substring(0,4);p=r.substring(5,7);t=r.substring(8,10);v=h.byMonth[parseInt(p,10)-1];l+='<li><a href="'+q+'"><div class="featuredbg"></div><img class="featuredthumb" src="'+u+'"/><h5>'+k+'</h5></a><div class="featured-meta"><span class="fdate"><span class="fday">'+t+'</span> <span class="fmonth">'+v+'</span> <span class="fyear">'+x+'</span></span> - <span class="fauthor">'+m+"</span></div></li>"}e("ul",g).append(l).addClass(h.loadingFeatured)};var c=function(){e(h.featuredID+" .feat-next").click()};var b=function(){e.get((h.listURL===""?window.location.protocol+"//"+window.location.host:h.listURL)+"/feeds/posts/summary"+(h.listbyLabel===false?"":"/-/"+h.listbyLabel)+"?max-results="+h.featuredNum+"&orderby=published&alt=json-in-script",f,"jsonp");setTimeout(function(){e(h.featuredID+" .feat-prev").click(function(){e(h.featuredID+" .featslider li:first").before(e(h.featuredID+" .featslider li:last"));return false});e(h.featuredID+" .feat-next").click(function(){e(h.featuredID+" .featslider li:last").after(e(h.featuredID+" .featslider li:first"));return false});if(h.autoplay){var i=h.interval;var j=setInterval(c,i);e(h.featuredID+" .featslider li:first").before(e(h.featuredID+" .featslider li:last"));e(h.featuredID+" .featslider").hover(function(){clearInterval(j)},function(){j=setInterval(c,i)})}e("ul",g).removeClass(h.loadingFeatured)},d)};e(document).ready(b)})(jQuery)};
//]]>
</script>

Automatic Featured Posts Slider Settings

  • listURL - replace "https://blogger.chipchuck.com/" with your blog URL
  • featuredNum - add the number of posts to display in the slider
  • listbyLabel - if you want to display posts by category / label, such as the tag fashion, it will be written as listbyLabel: "fashion"
  • feathumbSize - the size or dimension of the image in pixels
  • interval - time taken to change the slides position in milliseconds
  • autoplay - replace true with false if you don't want the slides to change automatically.
3. Once you are done with the settings, click the 'Save' button.

Now, this code is for a slider widget which means that instead of just a random list of Featured Posts, you get to display them with images (if they have one) and you can include effects too. You can also control how many slides should be shown because it just wouldn't be prudent to feature your entire oeuvre, right?

Plus, being a slider widget, it adds a nice little visual to your site. And we all know how visuals are important in enticing people to stay, don't we?

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