Wired magazine once declared that “nine blogs are created every minute and 2.3 content updates are posted every second.” And of those blogs, I would guess that most just use the default settings from when they create their blog. Here are a few ways to customize your blog to make it stand out.
Get a custom domain
Instead of having yourdomainname.blogspot.com, why not have yourdomainname.com? It costs just $9 to do it and it’s easy to setup.
I recommend GoDaddy.com as a registrar since it’s cheap (about $9 usually) and fairly simple to use.
Detailed instructions for each blogging platform at the links below.
Custom domain on Blogger
Custom domain on WordPress (Cost to “map” the domain name to your blog is in addition to your domain registration but both can be done at the same time)
Custom domain on Tumblr
Custom Favicon
You know that little picture that appears in the address bar next to the URL for your site? That’s called a favicon.
It’s also the same image that appears when people bookmark your site or subscribe to your RSS feed. By default, it will be the image setup by the blog hosting service but you can make it something that identifies you.
- Custom favicon on Blogger
- Custom favicon on WordPress
- Tumblr favicon: automatically created from your profile picture
Google Analytics
Do you know how many people read your blog? It is interesting to see how many visitors you have and what they are searching for when they find you.
Google Analytics is the best free option to use for your blog.
New Theme
Each blogging service has built-in themes that you can choose from but almost EVERYbody uses them. Instead, choose a theme that is unique and will help you standout.
- BloggerBuster.com keeps lists of free Blogger themes that are better than most (and some were created by the person who runs that site).
- Smashing Magazine routinely offers lists of great WordPress themes or they create their own and offer them for free. Excellent choices for WordPress.
- Tumblr’s own Theme Garden is better than most default options available from blogging services. Some additional options can be found at Tumblr Themes.
There are lots of blogging platforms but I’ve chosen to feature the three I am most familiar with here. If you don’t see your platform listed, a Google search should yield instructions on doing any of the things I’ve listed above. If you run into any issues or have questions, please feel free to comment and I will answer your questions there. Get out of here now and go blog!
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Love having my own domain! Easy to share and I feel like I kinda know what I'm doing with my site personalized. Great tips! Need to work on the favicon….my next adventure.