sofanmax

Fletro Pro v6.1 Blogger Theme With Great Core Web Vitals

Sat, 08 Jan 2022 11:47:50 +0200

Fletro Pro v6.1 is the current theme of SofanMax website. So, I'd like to compare this incredible template with its predecessor, the v6.0 which I still really love. I would also like to disclose my honest opinion on this incredible product. There are some surprising aspects that put this amazing template ahead of its competitors.

For most of 2021, SofanMax was running on the old Fletro Lite v.5.5 whose development unfortunately has been discontinued. It was an excellent theme until Blogger updated its image url structure. As a result, most of themes, including the Lite version, became obsolete and SofanMax was glitching. And so, I've decided to upgrade it to the latest version. And here is what I think about Fletro Pro v6.1!

My implementation of the latest Fletro Pro!

1. Fletro Pro v6.1 is Premium Blogger Theme With Great Core Web Vitals

The elusive core web vitals is a new Google's metric that measure how user friendly your website is. It basically assess three elements. They are First Input Delay (FID), Large Contentful Paint (LCP), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).

The basically they measure interactivity, loading speed, and visual stability. I will talk about this issue in detail in another article. For now, I just want to say that Fletro Pro v6.1 is perfectly capable of passing core web vital test! Based on my test, this theme offers zero FID and CLS, and super low LCP!

Here is the test result based on Google's PageSpeed Insight, with AdSense and Google Analytic enabled:

Fletro Pro v6.1 passes PageSpeed Insight Score With AdSense and GA enabled.

2.More Monetization Opportunity!

For people who would like to seriously monetize their blog, Fletro Pro v6.1 premium Blogger theme is currently a great option. The developer has optimized it for various ads space. Be it manual placement or auto ad, this template can handle AdSense very well. This theme also features manual anchor ad placement for mobile. You can easily enable or disable it anytime.

3. Higher Accessibility Features

Fletro Pro v6.1 is very user-friendly. This premium Blogger theme offer dynamic font size accessible for website visitors. They can change it to small, medium or bigger for ease of reading. In addtion, the developer reworked the comment section style, making visitors easier to comment. The pop-up comment system certainly will drive more engagement.

This template is the only blogger theme that features a notification that can be dismissed by the visitors. This notification appears at the top of the blog so visitor will be able to read urgent short message! SofanMax enables this feature to announce its present on Google New!

Furthermore, Fletro Pro v6.1 is very compatible with new Blogger image url format. There is no blurry thumbnail anymore!

The Downsides

I personally feel that, performance wise, Fletro Pro v6.1 does not offer dramatic improvement over the previous version. This theme does fix the potential LCP and CLS problem though.

Moreover, the v6.1 comes in a boring minimalist design. For instance, you would no longer be able to change the color of the header menu easily. The styling certainly has been scaled down, which is a bit unfortunate.

This theme still suffers from minor visual glitches, especially the footer size-part. Nevertheless, if you are familiar with CSS, customizing the style of this template will not become a problem.

Already own Fletro Pro v6.0? Should you upgrade it?

I also happen to own Fletro Pro v6.0, which I got technically for free as a compensation because the Lite was discontinued, thanks to the generous Jago Desain developer. I absolutely LOVE the v6.0 because it is much easier to customize, and its performance through the roof. But alas, Blogger Update also ruined it because of, again, the new image url schema.

Thankfully, the developer was able to fix the v6.0's glitch. For people who do not want to upgrade to the Fletro Pro v6.1 version, the older one would still run perfectly well! You will be able to fix the blurry image problem on the older theme by joining Jago Desain Telegram channel, only available for people who purchase the theme legally! Go join now!

So, if do not want to use Fletro Pro v6.1, the older one will still provide you with great performing website. I personally would not upgrade my websites that already run the v6.0 because changing theme is tedious.

Conclusion

Please pay attention, for people who have already purchased Fletro Pro v6.0, you will automatically receive the newer version for free! If would like to buy the v6.1 for the first time, the price will still be around $15! It is still very cheap for all the features that you will get!

The newest v6.1 will definitely an improvement! After all, it is literally the best premium Blogger template with high performance. Remember to buy Fletro Pro v1.6 only at the developer's website at jagodesain.com!

Top 10 Activities That Bloggers Should Do In Jaunary

Tue, 04 Jan 2022 07:43:38 +0200

SofanMax - New year has come, and let's celebrate 2022 with productive activities to improve our blogs! January is the best month to evaluate our websites' strengths and weaknesses. This way, we can carry on forward this year with much better performances. And so, I have compiled a short but undoubtedly helpful list of 10 activities for bloggers to do in January.

1. Check your Search Console to assess blog performance

Google Search console should be a mandatory tool to be mastered by every aspiring blogger. It is a fundamental tool that allows you to determine how well your blog is doing. Check the coverage report to see if your main contents are appropriately indexed. Find out which page has the most visitors and which keywords are the most popular!

2. Set up an email subscription feature for your Blogspot websites using follow.it

Have you upgraded your blog's email subscription? Don't forget that Blogger.com is no longer using Feedburner's automatic email newsletter service. It is time for you to leave Feedburner behind and move on to follow.it! It offers a free and reliable email subscription for your loyal blog readers. Register now and use the super cheap premium version for extra features.

3. Check Your AdSense Revenue

How was your AdSense Revenue last year? Check the Active view viewable percentage, impression, CPC, and perhaps set up a blocking control! You can also learn to set up customized responsive ad sizes for optimal performance. Tweaking the AdSense setting is definitely one of the most productive activities for Blogger in January!

4. Learn How to Write Based on SEO Principles

There are various activities for Bloggers to do in January! One of them is learning SEO writing. Basically, this method aims to create an article that can be read by a machine. The Google algorithm will have an easier time detecting, analyzing, and ranking your article if they are optimized for search engines. Obviously, you also have to optimize it for human readers. You should always pay attention to humans and machines when you create content.

5. Update Your Blogger Template

Are you looking for a new blogger theme? Most modern blogger themes nowadays are mobile-friendly and load very fast. January is a great time to upgrade if you are still on the classic template. You can also try custom premium templates such as Fletro Pro or iMagz for a performance boost!

6. Publish Your First Article of the Year in January

The essence of blogging is writing. Bloggers should not be lazy to create a new article! Now that we are entering a new year, you should be more consistent with your content production. Let's go publish your first article of the year today! If you are still chasing that sweet AdSense income, regular posting in 2022 will elevate your revenue.

7. Update Old Articles

Do you have old articles that are no longer relevant? Things are constantly changing, including information. Perhaps your article was the hottest tutorial on the internet. However, things may be different now. Go upgrade your old article to stay fresh! Instead of letting old content died, it is always beneficial to update it with new information.

8. Change Blogspot Domain to Custom Domain

Are you looking to compete with a big-time publisher? Then changing your Blogspot domain should be your main priority this year. A custom domain offers more versatile branding opportunities. For bloggers who like to improve their website's commercial value, a custom domain is necessary.

9. Set up Google Analytics

For bloggers with hundreds or thousands of visitors per day, adding Google Analytics will help you analyze your visitor's behavior. You can also check the performance of your blog through bounce rate, visiting time, comparative analysis, and so on!

10. Back Up Your Blog Content

Did you know that you can back up your content on blogger.com? This platform is owned by Google, so you do not have to worry about lost data. Nevertheless, it is always prudent to own a personal copy of your content. If Google shut this service, or if you somehow make a fatal error, you still have a good copy of your content. You can back up your old template as well!

Now that you have learned about essential bloggers' activities in January, you will be ready to implement them. Among the top 10 activities, which one would you like to do first? Let me know in the comment section!

How to Use YoastSEO to Improve Blogspot Websites

Mon, 27 Dec 2021 12:14:20 +0200

Using the YoastSEO plugin is one of the most common strategies to improve on-page optimization. The tool will guide you to write and optimize an article based on a focused keyword. However, this feature is only available exclusively for the WordPress platform. Luckily, I have found two methods to use YoastSEO to improve Blogspot websites!

I'd like you to know that I wrote this article using YoastSEO.

Use YoastSEO to Improve Blogspot by Utilizing Real-time Content Analysis

The easiest method to improve your on-page Blogspot posts is using YoastSEO Real-time content analysis tool. You can access this function by going to the following link: https://yoast.com/research/real-time-content-analysis/.

Before you publish your article on your Blogspot website, you can copy and paste your text into the tool. Then, your content will be analyzed by Yoast. You will receive suggestions on how to optimize it for the search engine.

Use YoastSEO real-time content analysis to improve your Blogspot performances.

To use YoastSEO properly, you must determine a key phrase or keyword. You can enter your keyword into the content analysis tool located at the bottom of the text editor. There will be suggestions for the keyword placement and how many times it should appear. Having one focused keyword is an excellent way to perform better on Google Search.

Furthermore, you will also receive suggestions on how to improve your article's readability. It uses the intelligent Flesch Reading Ease scores that show if your content is easy to read or not. This feature will analyze your sentences length, passive voice usages, subheading distributions, and so on.

Use YoastSEO to Improve Blogspot by Creating WordPress Website on InfinityFree

Did you know that InfinityFree offers a 100% free hosting program? This hosting provider offers an entirely free plan without any hassle. This free plan is intended for students or testers. Nevertheless, we can use InifinityFree web hosting to create a WordPress website.

InfinityFree is free!

Before you get to feel too excited, InifityFree unpaid hosting is limited. It only allows 50,000 hits per day (roughly around 1000 visitors max), and the website speed is absolutely abysmal. The free hosting plan will not be helpful for commercial purposes. Luckily, by having a WordPress website on InfinityFree, you can install the YoastSEO plugin!

This way, we can own a free WordPress that can be used as a text editor and on-page SEO testing ground. Before publishing an article on your Blogspot website, you can check it first through your free WordPress.

There is one downside, however. You have to know how to create a WordPress website. This step can be complicated for most people. But, it does offer more degrees of freedom compared to the first method. You can also learn how to manage and familiarize yourself with WordPress if you want to migrate someday.

How to Improve On-page SEO Based on Yoast Suggestions

To have a better on-page performance, you need to pay attention to the following points:

Choose a key phrase that is not too long nor too short (3-5 words).
Add keyword on the title.
Put the keyword in your first paragraphs.
Add keyword on the subheading, but not too frequently.
Add keyword in article's search description.
Make sure that your article is at least over 300 words.
Repeat keyword several times (4-5 times) and spread it out. Do not repeat it too often.
Add search description (meta description).
Add images, internal links, and outbound (external) links but not too much.

Improving Readability Based on YoastSEO Suggestions

Please remember that actual humans will read your article. You have to make your content easy to read.

Do not use passive sentences too often (10% of your total sentences maximum).
Try to avoid making overly long sentences.
Try to avoid making excessively long paragraphs.
Provide subheadings!
Be mindful of your word choices. Put some variety. You can use synonyms.
Use transition words such as furthermore, additionally, in addition, nevertheless, and so on.

Following YoastSEO suggestions will not magically improve your ranking. However, it does help you to optimize your content quality. It provides you with the guideline to create articles that will perform well on search engines without sacrificing user-friendliness.

Top 5 Tips to Improve Your Blogspot Traffic

Sun, 26 Dec 2021 14:35:34 +0200

SofanMax - Increasing website traffic is not the most straightforward task when you choose blogger.com as your platform. You need a high level of patience and comprehensive blogging knowledge to improve your Blogspot traffic. Nevertheless, it is not impossible to acquire thousands of visitors per day.

Blogger.com is part of Google's product that offers free blogging platform through the Blogspot domain. This website allows anybody to create a blog quickly and earn income through AdSense. This platform is often underrated. However, on the right hand, Blogspot is actually mighty.

Let's improve your blogspot traffic together!(Photo: Pixabay)

Blogspot does not require maintenance, secured by Google. It has unlimited bandwidth to handle millions of visitors without slowing down your website. You get all these excellent features for free. If you know how to improve your Blogspot traffic, you can own a robust website at a minimum cost.

On this occasion, I have curated the top 5 tips that you can follow to improve your Blogspot traffic immediately.

1. Utilize Google Search Console

Google Search Console provides you with chances to request manual indexing, verify your website ownership, and track your website performance. It is a platform that must be mastered by every blogger who seeks to improve their traffic. Fortunately, you can integrate Blogspot with Google Search Console!

You can submit your website to Search Console, and you can enjoy more visibility in Google Search results. If your website is indexed, it means that everyone in the whole wide world can locate your blog content on the internet.

2. Use Reddit to Improve Your Blogspot Traffic

Reddit is the most popular content aggregator website in the world. You can submit your links on Reddit as long as it follows the guidelines. If your blog post is relevant and popular, people will upvote it, and thousands of visitors will come your way.

However, Reddit moderators can be pretty strict. Depending on the subreddit, you need to follow the rules accordingly; otherwise, your link may get removed. Furthermore, Reddit has a tight policy regarding spam. Never ever try to spam on Reddit because your website address may get blocked.

3. Keyword Researching

Google Search displays relevant results based on user's keywords. Therefore, you have to be mindful of these keywords when creating content. If you incorporate a relevant keyword, then the chance of your website to show up on top will increase. Research which keywords are often used by visitors!

Nonetheless, developing the right keywords into a great article can be tricky. You have to learn how to write based on the Search Engine Optimization principle while also being user-friendly. The best writing is the one that uses relevant keywords, can be read easily, optimized for Google.

4. Shows Up in Google Search Image

If you love taking photos or creating infographics, you can include them in your articles. Sometimes, people are searching for relevant images. You can show up in Google Search Image result if your articles have them. It is a niche way to get visitors, and it works well if you can provide excellent quality images.

But, please be mindful that images alone will not be enough. You need to provide caption and alt image info. You also have to explain your image well. Provide a thorough description or explanation of your images. Again, blogging is all about writing, so images are a complementary way to get more visitors.

5. Get Mentioned On Reputable Websites to Improve Your Blogspot Traffic

Try to have your blog mentioned in local news or reputable websites in your area. If they cite your blog, it may increase your legitimacy, and more visitors will be more likely to visit. Of course, this strategy is not easy. You have to create original content to become the primary source.

However, the effect of getting mentioned on another reputable website can be very significant and dramatic. This method is usually referred to as backlink acquirement. Having more websites placing your link inside their contents will improve your blog ranking on the internet. Be careful! Backlink usage is strictly regulated by Google, so you need to check their policy first.

Now that we have learned the top 5 tips to improve your Blogspot traffic, I hope that you can attract more visitors. Please remember, change is gradual, and improvement may not happen overnight. Be patient and be consistent!

Is It Possible to Monetize Poetry and Flash Fiction Using AdSense in Blogspot?

Sun, 28 Nov 2021 07:12:46 +0200

SofanMax - Blogger.com, or familiarly called Blogspot, is the perfect platform for those of us who loves writing. It is very simple to use, even for people who don't know much about internet technology. Blogspot basically allows you to create your own personal website where you can publish your thoughts and express creativity.

If you love making Poetry and Flash Fictions, Blogspot is definitely the most suitable place to publish your creations. And yes, you absolutely can monetize Poetry and Flash Fiction using AdSense in Blogspot.

Personal Experience on Monetizing Poetry and Flash Fictions in Blogspot

This blog, SofanMax, was actually my personal blog that only contains Poetry. I love writing cheesy stuffs. One day, I tried to apply my Blogspot website to AdSense, and I got approved. Nowadays, my content has expanded quite broadly,but it was started from Poetry blog.

Tea and Poetry. (Photo: Pixabay)

As for Flash Fiction, I helped a friend of mine to monetize her blog, Fateism, that contains short fictional stories (300-500 words each). It was successful!

Therefore, based on these two personal experiences, I'm absolutely certain that Poetry and Flash Fictions can be monetized with AdSense in Blogspot.

However, there is several conditions. You need to follow several criteria so that AdSense will accept your blog. So keep reading!

Read also:

How to Monetize Poetry and Flash Fiction with Blogspot and AdSense

Not every Blogspot website can be monetized using AdSense. Only websites with high quality content can be accepted.

First, you have to make sure that your Poetry and Flash Fictions are really really good. People who read your contents should be impressed. Of course, art is subjective, but still, if you put efforts in your creations, more people will like it.

Second, please note that your Poetry and Flash Fictions are arts. The text may not follow the rule of grammar for artistic effect. Your content may also be very abstract. And that is okay for your human readers. However, your contents will also be evaluated by AdSense using their machine.

Now, because machine can not appreciate arts, AdSense may not understand that your Poetry and Flash fictions are actually valuable to human readers. There is a good chance that your blog will be rejected at first.

The solution is quite simple. If machines can not understand your contents, then you will have to explain it to them. How do you explain arts to machine? Well, describe and provide explanation or interpretation to your arts.

Therefore, your blog post should not only contain Poetry and Flash Fictions. Write an explanation about the meaning, what inspire you, how do you create them, how long do you create them, why do you create them, and elaborate everything in detail.

Pro tip: you should also put video or picture to enrich the value of your post.

You can put that explanation under your Poetry and Flash Fiction. Your main content is above, and the explanation below. It is a recommended format, based on my personal experience.

Third, mix up your contents. Because Blogspot is your personal space, you can post anything in it. And so, you should also post something other than Flash Fiction and Poetry.

For example, you can create a real article about your personal interpretation of a famous poem by a famous poet from the ancient time. You can also write an article about tips and trick of how to write good poetry. Usually, articles that talk about guides are considered to be valuable.

In other words, you can expand your horizon. Not just specific to Poetry and Flash Fiction, perhaps literature in general, or even broader.

Fourth, make sure that your Poetry and Flash Fictions adhere to Blogger and AdSense content policies. For example, graphic erotica may not be eligible for AdSense monetization as Blogger content policy does not allow it.

Erotica is a legitimate form of art, and I am not judging anyone who read and write. I think it is a brave expression of sexuality. However, if you depict them too graphically in an extreme way, AdSense may not be viable.

There are other points from the content policies that you need to pay attention. I suggest you to read them. You can find Blogger content policy here and AdSense content policy (in line with Google Publisher content policy) here.

Is Blogspot the Best Platform for Poetry and Flash Fiction writers?

In this platform, you have a lot of control when it comes to formatting. Not just that, you have full control over the way your content is presented to your readers. For example, you can choose to customize the style of your blog's theme, links, and many more!

Furthermore, Blogspot is integrated with Google Search Console. It means that you can index your Poetry and Flash Fiction so that they appear in Google Search result!

Most importantly, Blogspot can be connected to AdSense for monetization. This aspect is perhaps the biggest factor why writers and bloggers should be using Blogspot. Your original thoughts, in the form of writings, have monetary value.

It not easy to be published and get money in real world. However, with Blogspot and AdSense, you can become a self-published writer and receive income directly to your bank account via monetization program.

Comparing Blogspot with Other Free Platform

There are other platforms that allows writers to publish their Poetry and Flash Fiction for free. For example: Poetizer, Wattpad, Instagram, Facebook, and Medium. Now let's do a little bit of comparison.

Blogspot have more freedom

These platforms are not bad but you will have not much degree of freedom. You contents will be tied to those platforms. You are given a page, your profile, and you don't have control over the whole website.

On the other hand, Blogspot provides you with freedom of control, unlike the free platforms that I have mentioned.

Blogspot have wider audience but harder to gain viewers

In term of visibility, it is easier to gain viewer via those platforms. They have social media features and everyone with the same interest as you will be gathering.

Blogspot is different as it closer to creating a website. You are not a social media influence but an actual website owner. It is harder to gain viewers. After all, it is harder to grow a website compared to grow a social media presence.

However, with Blogspot, you can get indexed in Google Search result, which is very cool. Your audience will be global, not tied only to those who use the same platform.

In Instagram, your readers will mostly be also from Instagram users. In Blogspot, the whole internet is your audience.

But again, despite the wider visitor potential, it is harder to gain visitor. It's called the saturation effect.

Blogspot Has Stronger Monetization Opportunity

Blogspot with AdSense integration is relatively easier to monetize. Of course, you still need to fulfill several criteria before you can monetize your Blogspot. Nevertheless, if you are able to do it, your income will grow exponentially with the amount of your visitors.

AdSense will automatically insert advertisement inside your Poetry and Flash Fiction. Your readers who view your contents will also see the advertisement, and thus your income is generated.

In social media, you can not monetize it using AdSense. Your monetization strategy will not be as versatile because you don't have control.

So Which One is The Best Platform for Poetry and Flash Fiction?

The answer is actually the combination of those platforms.

You should mainly write your Poetry and Flash Fiction inside your Blogspot blog. Then, use the social media platform to distribute the preview of your contents, the caption, and the links.

This way, you will have the powerful monetization opportunity from Blogspot using AdSense and the power of social media feature to distribute your contents.

With the combined approach, you have the global reach of a website and the viral power of social media in your hand.

How to Optimize Your Blogger Websites on Google Search

Mon, 22 Nov 2021 18:45:04 +0200

Previously, we have learned about blog optimization through various methods. This time, I'd like to reiterate what we have learned and summarize it in a simpler guide. If you are a beginner, this article will help you to start your own Blogger website optimization.

Before you continue reading this article, I'd like to make sure that you are familiar with Google Search Console. You can read this article about indexing: How to Index Blogger Post Using Google Search Console Tool - Basic Search Engine Optimization.

Once you have learned how to index your blog, now let's learn how to optimize it!

Illustration of website performance.

The algorithm that determine your website's ranking is always changing every month. Google will always update its core so that the search engine can provide better result. If your website provide relevant information, your chance to have a higher ranking will increase.

However, having relevant information alone will not be sufficient to compete with other websites. You need to do better and more! Thus, you need to optimize your blog for Google Search engine.

Provide Descriptive Information

First, you need to optimize your content. To do that, you will need to create an accurate title. A good title is very important. In fact, nowadays, a lot of people tend to only read the title and not the article itself. It is a bad habit, however it goes to show that good title will drive traffic into your website.

Good title should be accurate, interesting, not too short and not too long.

Not just title optimization, you need to optimize your articles as well. Be descriptive with your articles. A good article does not have to be too long. A short article, around 600-800 words, that can describe a detailed information will be the most ideal.

Remember the 5W + 1H principle to create a descriptive article.

Then, provide a good and clear distinction between topics. Discussing multiple unrelated topics in one article will cause your readers to feel confused. Such article is usually shallow, that's why you should avoid making listicle. The most ideal article should only focus on one topic and perhaps break it down into several sub-topics.

Use Labels in Blogger to classify topics. Use Headers or bullets for sub-topics within an article.

Provide Complete Information

A website that only serves shallow information will not do well in Google Search. You can not expect to gain organic visitors if your website only serve useless articles. Again, being descriptive is the key.

Google Search engine will be able to understand your contents if you have good description over your articles. You should always know what you are writing. If both engine and human can read it, then it is an excellent article.

Do not forget to provide a search description in your articles. In Blogger it is located on the right side bar in the text editor. Search description is not your title, it should be a short sentence (less than 150 characters) which can describe the whole article. In my blog, you can read the search description below the title.

Do you want to have a Blogger theme that can display search description under the title? Buy Fletro Pro!

Topic Adjustment

We all know that a consistent update is necessary in order to have good blog performance. Having a schedule will help your website to grow better. However, consistent update schedule is not enough!

You also have to adjust the topic of your content based on the seasonal trend. The law of supply and demand also applies to website traffic. When the trend is shifting, you need to adapt.

For example, it is almost Christmas. You should try to incorporate the season into your website's content. Provide special deals or events based on the season. Another example, Google have recently released the Pixle 6 and it becomes a trending topic. If you buy the phone, you can also try to chime in with your own opinions.

Following the short trend is always the best way to keep your blog fresh. However, do not forget to also create articles that can stay relevant for a long time. The long term trend is as important as the short ones.

Update Your Website

Websites are always changing. The relevancy of your old articles will be decreasing. Sometimes, it is a good idea to update your old articles so that it can stay relevant. Adding new information in your old article is not bad idea.

For example, the method of AdSense registration from Blogger has changed. If your tutorial article is still referencing information from 2019, there is a good chance that your tutorial is no longer true. Instead of letting it rot, update the tutorial!

Not just the content, you also need to update the interface of your blog. If you are still using the old themes, you may need to change it into the modern ones. Make sure that your blog is mobile friendly and load fast. Custom theme such as Fletro Pro, LinkMagz or Fiksioner is recommendable.

Use Texts

Google Search is heavily reliant on keywords to provide relevant results. If you want to be visible on Google Search, then obviously you need to provide texts with relevant keywords.

Pictures and videos are essential to enhance the quality of your articles. However, Google engine will have a harder to to read pictures and videos. If you want to have an optimized blog, then you should rely on texts. Pictures and videos are complementary.

For example, if you are using Blogger as an online store, you may use a lot of pictures to show your products. Even then, you will need to provide context to those pictures.

You can further optimize your blog by adding text to your pictures and videos. For pictures, add caption, alt text, and title text. The text should be describing the picture. If you put a picture of a cat, then describe the cat in the caption and alt text. If you display a picture of person, then describe how the person looks like and what he is doing.

For video, unfortunately Blogger does not have a caption feature. However, it is always better to describe the content of the video inside of your article.

Get Referrals

You are probably familiar with the term of backlinks. However, while backlink is certainly useful, it is often misunderstood by beginner bloggers. Please remember that not all links are equals. Random links on random websites will not be as powerful as having listed on reputable websites.

Spamming links is a bad bad referrals strategy. Google is getting smarter when it comes to detecting spam. A strong backlink occurs naturally. You do not ask for a backlink. People will naturally use your website as source material if it serves great contents.

Moreover, branding can be more powerful than an just active links. Google has been hinting that getting mentioned in a reputable news website will be great for your blog visibility.

Use Professional Service

If you have the resources, and want to compete commercially, you will definitely need a professional help. They will be able to spot the weakness of your blog and provide various solutions.

Of course, you will have to pay considerable amount of money to hire a SEO expert. After all, search engine is becoming even more competitive than ever. Make sure the person that you hire is actually legit. Too many scammers and black hat SEOs out there, so be careful.

Read also:

How to Add Payment Method in AdSense and Verify Your Bank Account

Tue, 16 Nov 2021 08:06:56 +0200

SofanMax - For beginner bloggers, receiving your very first income from AdSense can be one of the most exciting part in your life. In order to get your money, you need to add a primary payment method in your AdSense account and verify your banking account. This step is a little bit tricky, so pay attention!

Developing a profitable blog requires a lot of works and continuous efforts. Receiving your first real payment from Google is a testament that you have created a valuable and useful website. Having income from AdSense is something that you should be proud of, even though maybe the money is not that much at first.

To get paid, you will have to reach the minimum income threshold of $100. Then, you need to set up payment method in your AdSense account so that the money can be sent automatically into to your bank account.

Complete Identity Verification First!

You will be able to add payment method in AdSense after you have completed the identity verification step. In the previous article, we have discussed this issue thoroughly. If you do not know about AdSense identity verification, then read that article first and go back here.

Here is the article: My Experience on Completing AdSense Identity and PIN Verification Process.

Basically, you need to earn your first $10 in AdSense to do the identity verification process. After you have completed it, you will need to wait for AdSense PIN and you can also add payments method.

You do not have to complete the PIN verification to add payments method in AdSense. However, I personally finished the PIN verification first, then add payment method after that. I did it in proper order to avoid confusion.

You can not add payment method because you have not completed AdSense identity verification process.

Adding and verifying bank account can be done anytime, so there is no need to rush and do the steps carefully. If you have not finished AdSense identity verification, the option to add payment method will be locked.

Adding Payment Method in AdSense

If you have fulfilled the requirements above, now you can begin to add payment method. First, go to your AdSense account, then select Payments on the left bottom sidebar.

Then, under your earnings information, you will see the methods of how you get paid. Then, select ADD PAYMENT METHOD.

You can add payment method in AdSense

After you have clicked add payment methods, you will be able to add your name, select bank, and add account number. Your first payment method will be the primary, you can add additional different bank accounts later.

When entering the name, make sure that it matches exactly with the name on your bank account!

Then, you will be able to select your bank. AdSense will provide you with list of all recognized bank based on your country, choose the correct one. If your bank is not on the list, do not worry, you can open a new account in a new bank which is recognized by AdSense, simple as that.

Then, you will need to enter your account number. Make sure that it is correct. Then set it as the primary method. After you have added all of the required information correctly, click Save.

Enter the correct bank information.

Verify Your Bank Account

After you have added payment method and clicked save, you will receive a notification which informs you that AdSense will deposit you with less than $1 (less than Rp1,000 if you are Indonesian) to your bank account. In other words, Google will sent you a small amount of money into your bank account. Click GOT IT to dismiss the notification.

Google will sent you a test deposit.

The small amount of money serves as a test deposit. This way, your income will be sent to your bank account properly.

Then, go check your Payments again, you will see a red notification which says "You haven't completed the verification process for Bank account *****". You will also see VERIFY NOW button. You can click the button and complete your verification for bank account after you have received the small deposit.

Do not try to randomly verify your bank, you have to wait for the deposit. After three failed attempts, your account may get locked and you will have to contact AdSense, and that can be troublesome.

The process may take some times. You will be required to wait for 2 - 5 days until Google transfer the small deposit.

After 2 days passed, go to your bank and ask the clerk to check for transfer information, do not forget to bring you bank book. You can also do it from ATM, though the settings may vary depending on your bank and country. If there is no deposit from Google yet, try the next day and so on.

Depending on the country your bank is located in, the test deposit will appear in your bank account under one of following labels:

AFS RE GOOGLE
AFS RE GOOGLE ADSENSE
ARVATO FINANCE SERVICES LIMITED
BFS FINANCE LTD
CITIBANK IRELAND FINANCIAL SERVICES
Google AdSense Payment

For example, you may receive 0.123$, it is likely this deposit was sent from Google. Please note that the amount of deposit is completely random, just like AdSense PIN.

After you have received the small deposit sent by Google, enter the amount into your AdSense account. Click the VERIFY NOW button in the Payments. Then select the correct amount of deposit.

Verify your bank account after you have received Google's test deposit.

In my case, Google sent me Rp547. So I select that amount. Again, the deposit is random and every person will receive different amount.

Make sure that you select the correct deposit. Then, choose VERIFY. Again, you only have 3 attempts, so you need to be sure that you choose the correct Google's deposit.

Select the correct deposit.

If you have successfully verify you bank, the red notification will disappear and you will see that your payment is no longer pending.

Now your AdSense account is fully activated and you are ready to receive payment when your income reach $100.

What if You Do Not Receive Any Deposit From Google?

Not all of country requires this step. If you are in Bulgaria, Gibraltar, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Romania, and South Africa, you will not be required to do the test deposit verification.

If you are not from those countries, and Google still has not sent you any deposit, then try to wait 5 more days. It is possible that there is a little delay. You should also keep contacting your bank and ask them about small money transfer from Google.

Successful bank account verification for AdSense payment.

If after a total of 10 working days have passed and your bank still says that there is no transfer from Google, then it is very likely that you have entered the wrong bank, account number, or name into your AdSense payment methods.

If you have entered the wrong information, do not worry, it is quite easy to solve. Go to your AdSense account, then add payment method with the correct information. Do not forget to set it as primary. Google will send you the small deposit into your correct bank account. Then, you can remove the wrong payment method.

My Experience on Completing AdSense Identity and PIN Verification Process

Sat, 13 Nov 2021 12:04:12 +0200

AdSense PIN verification is perhaps one of the most significant step for beginners in order to monetize their Blogger websites, or YouTube channels. These mechanisms are essential to ensure the correctness of your identity and, especially, your address.

AdSense will send you a letter, which contains a PIN (Personal Identification Number), directly to your home and you will need to input the numbers into your account. By doing so, your AdSense account will be fully activated and you'll be able to actually receive payments once you have reached the $100 threshold.

Read also:

Without AdSense PIN verification, you will not be able to receive payment, even though you've reached your threshold. AdSense will also temporarily stop showing ads on your website if you missed a certain deadline. Therefore, you have to pay careful attention to AdSense PIN verification steps because it will affect your income.

I'd like to describe my experience on dealing with AdSense PIN verification process. However I'd like to note that I had done my PIN verification in 2020. Therefore, I do no know whether the process has changed or not. Nevertheless, I don't think AdSense PIN verification process will be much different.

I decided to not write an article about AdSense PIN right away because it's a bit sensitive. So, about one and a half year later, I'm ready to tell my experience!

Earn $10 in AdSense to Begin ID and PIN Verification

So I was able to start identity (ID) and AdSense PIN verification by earning $10. If you are Indonesian, you need to earn Rp130,000 to start the verification process.

The PIN verification process itself is actually not that hard. However, earning your first $10 is actually quite challenging if you are only relying on one free Blogspot website.

For me personally, it took me several months to get $10 from one Blogspot website. Your income at first will be very very low. I remember my first income, from one Australian visitor, it was only Rp19 or around $0.0013! Very very low!

Your income will gradually increase naturally as your website grows and you receive more organic traffic. Based on my experience, I was able to boost my income significantly when my articles are able to rank on Google's top 10 search results.

If you want to quickly request the AdSense PIN, I suggest you to:

Monetize an established website which already has steady traffics.
Have a top level domain (such as .com).
Focus on ranking by writing good articles and pay attention to good SEO principles.

The topic of your website can be about anything, but it's always important to write well. Be patience!

Once you have earned $10, AdSense will display a notification which says "Your payments are on hold. Action is required to release payment." on top of your account. You will also receive an email from Google Payments which tells you to verify your identification.

Please note that the $10 or the Rp130,000 threshold is not the accumulated balance but your total income. For example, my accumulated balance from previous months is $8 (as you can see from your AdSense account dashboard). But today, I receive $2 income. So even though my income has not been accumulated yet, I have received a total $10. Email and notification will appear right away.

Another example, the balance is still only Rp107,00 but the person received Rp24,000 this week, so he has Rp131,000 total. Thus he is ready for identity and AdSense PIN verification.

If you see such notifications, do not panic. It means that you are eligible start ID and PIN from AdSense and the verification process can be started!

Read also:

Start AdSense Identity Verification Process

Before AdSense send you a PIN, you will need to do identity verification first. You will be required to upload a picture of your valid official identity card issued by your government. It can be a passport, driver license, or your national identity card, just pick one of them.

To do identity verification, go to your AdSense account, then select Payment. You will notice a red warning which says "Verify your identity." and "VERIFY NOW" button. Before you click on the verify now button, please note that there are several requirements for your identification document picture.

Do not take this step lightly, you have a limited amount of chances (if I recall correctly, you are given 3 chances) to upload the correct and valid identity card picture! If you failed to upload the required photo, you account might get locked out and you might need to contact AdSense to complete the identification process (which may not be feasible).

Identity Verification Process

Tips for taking identity card picture:

Capture the entire document including all four corners, it must be a full picture of your identity card!
Your image must be readable, in focus, and free of reflections and glare. Please note that if you card is old and the data is unreadable, it is better to renew it first! Do not upload expired document! Select the clearest, cleanest, and newest document (Passport, National Identity Card, or Driver License).
For Indonesians only, if your national identity card is expired, even though it is legally valid, it will not be accepted by AdSense.
Incomplete or obstructed documents or dark or blurry photos won't be accepted.
To prevent abuse, AdSense only allow a limited number of verification attempts.
Uploading documents or photos other than what is requested may result in account suspension. Do not upload the wrong picture. Only a picture of your Passport, Driver License or National Identity Card are acceptable. Other documents are not accepted!

In my experience, I used my driver license card. It was my newest and clearest official document and it worked well!

Once you have taken the correct and clear picture of your document, you can click the VERIFY NOW button in AdSense Payment section. You will be required to fill in your identity. Make sure that the information, your name and address, that you enter match with the information written on your selected document.

Once you have submitted your documents, you will need to wait for AdSense confirmation email.

Review your information, and again, make sure that it matches with your document. After that you can upload your identity card photo and submit it to AdSense.

After you have submitted your information and document photo, AdSense will verify it. It may take several days until you get reply from AdSense. If it is successful or failed, AdSense will notify you via email. If it is not successful, you can attempt to try it again, just make sure that you follow my tips above!

In my case, AdSense verified me in just 6 hours. I received an email which stated that my identity had been successfully verified. I can set up a payment method right away but I chose to wait until I received my PIN and verified my address first.

Waiting for AdSense PIN

After you have successfully finished the identification process, AdSense will send you a physical letter which contains the PIN directly to your house! This is quite exciting and anxiety-inducing process.

It says that you will receive the PIN in 2 - 4 weeks. If you have not received the PIN after 4 weeks, you are allowed to request the PIN again. Make sure that your address is correct, you can modify it at this stage.

AdSense PIN to verify billing address.

In my case, I have to wait for over a month until my AdSense PIN arrived. I had to wait more than 4 weeks because of the pandemic situation.

After 4 weeks had passed, I click Verify and then choose the "Resend PIN" button for additional PIN. Do no try to submit random PIN, you have a limited amount of attempt to submit the correct PIN.

Requesting resend PIN in AdSense

After around 8 weeks, my PIN arrived at the local post office. I actually went to the post office before to confirm if my PIN had arrived or not.

The post office staffs were kind enough to notify me directly when the PIN had arrived so I picked it to the office myself because I was so excited. Normally, the post office will deliver it to your house.

I actually ended up receiving two PINs, the first PIN which was delayed because of the pandemic and the second one because I click the "Resend PIN" option. They contains the same set of numbers.

AdSense PIN verification successful.

I entered the PIN into my AdSense account and click Submit, it was successful! My tips for AdSense PIN verification:

Be patience, wait until it is 4 weeks. If it has not arrived, do not panic select the "Resend PIN" option. AdSense PIN delivery will be longer if your home has uncommon address or if it is located in remote places.
AdSense PIN usually may be delivered a bit late but do not worry! As long as you complete your PIN verification within 6 months (which is plenty of time), you account will not be badly affected.
Make sure that your address is correct before you ask for AdSense to resend PIN.
Go to your local post office and check with them directly.

I'd like to discuss setting up the payment method and bank verification process in AdSense, However, the article has gotten too long. I promise to publish an article about that next time. Stay tune!

Replace Blogger FeedBurner with 'follow.it' - The Best Free Alternative!

Sun, 31 Oct 2021 16:08:46 +0200

The FeedBurner's email subscription service is officially ended. It is no longer possible to use the Follow by Email widget in Blogger because the two platforms were integrated. Fortunately, a third-party service namely follow.it is ready to provide us with free replacement to the Blogger's missing widget.

We can set up a follow.it email subscription form to replace Blogger's Follow by Email widget. The service is free and, so far, I find it to be quite reliable to deliver updates directly to my blog's subscribers.

Read also:

It is essential nowadays to maintain a list of loyal readers. These type of visitors will provide us with a continuous traffic stream that will not be influenced by the volatility of Google's algorithm updates. Therefore, to provide our loyal subscribers with timely and convenient notifications, we need a dependable email subscription service.

There are not many free companies that provide a free service to deliver our new articles via email to our subscribers. The follow.it is among the few services that is capable of reliably sending your subscribers with timely notification via email for completely free.

When it comes to choosing the best email subscription service for your blog, there are some criteria that you need to pay attention to. You should not just put any random third-party service to replace Blogger's Follow by Email widget because it may impact your website badly.

Here are some characteristics that you need to understand when choosing the best alternative for Blogger's FeedBurner:

1. The email subscription provider should be user friendly

It is essential to provide a user-friendly subscription method. You need to provide your visitors with an easy and simple procedure to subscribe to your website. If the process is too complicated, no one will bother to subscribe to your blog. The follow.it is an excellent example of user-friendliness.

The follow.it email subscription service has a function that is easy to follow. Your readers only needs to input their email inside the subscription form, then they will receive a confirmation email. It basically works just like the old Follow by Email in Blogger. Most visitors will be able to follow the familiar procedure easily. After that they will receive a timely updates from your blog directly to their emails.

2. Avoid dodgy and shady free email subscription service

Ever since FeedBurner stopped the email subscription service, many shady companies have offered free alternative. However, do not be fooled. These shady companies may actually be just mining your visitors data.

Your visitors' emails are valuable. Some of the shady companies will harvest your visitors email via the free email subscription service pretext. When you are using the service from the shady companies, your subscribers email may be sold to another third part. Even worse, your subscribers email may get bombed with spam messages.

Luckily, this type of incident does not happen with the free follow.it service. I have not notice any increase in spam messages after using their email subscription platform. Moreover, follow.it doesn't seem to slow down your blog at all if you set the form correctly!

3. Choose Email Subscription Service that provides additional features and value

The Follow by Email widget provided a simple feature that only allows your subscribers to get updates on your blog. The services provided by follow.it will provide you with so much more useful functions that will allow you to manage your subscribers properly.

The follow.it also provides us with premium options which are priced fairly. The cost is scaled based on the amount of your blog subscribers. The premium version of the follow.it will improve the performance of your blog because it will allow you to get listed on their public feed directory.

Moreover, you will be able to choose how each of the subscribers will receive their updates. You can specify the way the updates are delivered. For example, you may choose to let users to receive their future updates on the exact hour they were subscribing. If they subscribe on 8 A.M., they will also receive notification on that time in the future updates, thus ensuring that your notification will be opened. It is very useful if you have various visitors from all over the world who have different time zones.

You can also customize the way your feeds are presented inside your subscriber's email. If your notification is attractive, your readers will more likely to immediately check your website.

Moreover, follow.it also provides notification to your readers via Telegram instead of the old email. It's also quite convenient though still uncommon. There are also other useful benefits that I have not listed in this articles. You can try it yourself to find out if it is suitable for your or not.

For more premium features from follow.it, you can directly check their pricing on the company's website. They are very cheap too, around 2-5 USD per months. It is worth it if you want to provide the best experience for your loyal blog's subscribers.

If you don't want to spend any money, then the free follow.it version is already good enough and ahead of other services. There is not much limitation even when you are using the free service. If you have a small blog, the follow.it free version is more than adequate. You can always upgrade any time once your blog has grown bigger.

If you are interested to use follow.it, here is a complete guide on how to set it up on your Blogger websites. It is very simple!

Is Fletro Pro v6.0 the best premium theme for Blogger?

Fri, 10 Sep 2021 16:12:34 +0200

People used to complain about the outdated interface and the limited theme (template) selection for Blogger (Blogspot). But nowadays, more developers are racing to design the best theme for Blogger. One of the best premium theme for Blogger is the Fletro Pro v6.0. And here are the reasons why you should buy it!

If want to see how Fletro v6.0, you may take a look at the demo website at https://fletro.jagodesain.com/ or you can see my implementation at https://omu.my.id/.

If you are interested to use the Fletro Pro 6.0, you can absolutely purchase it for a very reasonable price directly at the designer's website. However, before you do, please read my opinion about this theme first! You may want to know whether it's worth it or not.

I have been using Fletro Pro v6.0 since it came out last May. I have been analyzing the theme's strength and weakness.

Baca juga:

The Reasons Why I think Fletro Pro v6.0 Is The Best Premium Blogger Theme

1. Fletro v6.0 is full of useful features

If you are looking for a theme that can be customized in various ways, the Fletro Pro v6.0 is definitely the way to go. It has so many features that you can enable and disable quite easily. If you implement Fletro theme on two websites, you can make each blog to have a different style thanks to the customizable features and layout.

For example, you may choose to enable or disable the special slider content widget on the main page. You can also choose to post using the centered full-read mode without sidebar, just like in the Fletro Lite layout.

To edit the header menu, you are given the easy option of using the link list gadget. You no longer need to edit the HTML in the theme editor to set the main navigation. There is also the option of enabling Grid or List mode to enrich the layout of you blog's main page.

The text and writing formats are also amazingly diverse. It's too many but I'd like to mention the image placement layout. I think it's the first time I've seen feature like that in a Blogger theme. You can check them out fully at https://fletro.jagodesain.com/2019/12/all-compose-style.html.

2. Fletro v6.0 has an amazing performance

The Fletro v6.0 is very light weight despite the loaded features. You can tell that the codes are optimized and tidied up nicely.

If you are a serious blogger, you may want a theme that can pass the Lighthouse SEO and performance test. For your information Lighthouse is a standard tool in web development. It is no surprise that Fletro v6.0 passed with high score scores. You can test it yourself via https://web.dev/measure/.

Fletro Pro v6.0 has very high Lighthouse score.

Now here is the catch, usually when Google Analytic (GA) and AdSense are enabled, your score will drop considerably. In fact, you might get a failing score. But Fletro is different.

I test Fletro v6.0 with Google Analytic and AdSense enabled (OMU.my.id implementation). There is a noticeable drop in performance but it's still pass. The SEO, accessibility and best practice score do not drop much at all! Please note that the passing score is above 49.

Fletro v6.0 with Google Analytic and AdSense,

This phenomenon is actually rare. Many Blogger themes are not designed with AdSense and GA in mind. Therefore the themes' performance will drop significantly when they are enabled and usually the themes get failing scores. Meanwhile, Fletro Pro v6.0 is still capable of achieving high scores because the designers actually pay attention to these problems!

I believe the secrete to the high performance score is the implementation of the lazy loading feature. The Fletro v6.0 is among one of the few themes that have this built-in feature.

Of course, the scores is not the most single important metric to determine a website performance. However, passing the test is sign of great design and may improve your blog's core web vitals.

3. Cheap Modern Premium Theme

The competitive price is certainly one of the factor that makes Fletro v6.0 to be the best premium theme! For ONLY $15 to $18, you get to use this modern theme. For the features that you get, $15 is insanely cheap. You get maximum value with low cost.

Other premium themes with similar (or even less) features usually would cost around $25. It's a bargain.

Moreover, if you buy legitimately and abide by the term and condition, you will get life time updates and support! It means that whenever a new version come out, you can upgrade it for free.

Honestly, there are more good things that I can talk about this theme. But if you want to know more, you should try it yourself.

Buy Fletro Pro v6.0 now!

Buy Fletro v6.0 only at the Jago Desain website. Do not attempt to use illegal/pirated copy as they are usually compromised with hacks and unwanted ads. Respect intellectual property, and it's cheap anyway.

Limitation of Fletro Pro v6.0

Nothing in the world is perfect. Fletro v6.0 too does have several limitations in my opinion. First of all, if you want to do advance customization, you definitely need to know a little bit about CSS and HTML.

Because of its many features, this theme is certainly very complex. If you are a beginner, I advise you to practice first using free theme such as Igniel's Fiksioner. They have a little similarity when it comes to layout settings.

In order to use various text style and format, you would need to constantly check the documentation. It can be a bit overwhelming at first.

Another limitation is the type of license that you get. You are not allowed to redistribute the theme. Moreover the theme is limited to three domains maximum. This rule seems to be enforced based on the customer good faith. But I do encourage everyone to respect it.

The Jago Desain Studio

Before I end the article, I'd like to talk about the designer who created this amazing theme for a little bit, the Jago Desain Studio. It is a reputable and experienced developer from Indonesia. I believe the studio was started by Muhammad Maki.

While still relatively new, the popularity of Jago Design seems to be growing rapidly. In fact it's catching up to other veteran Indonesian Blogger theme designers such as Igniel and Mas Sugeng.

Instead of rehashing old themes, Jago Desain seems to have found its own style. Muhammad Maki manages to bring fresh modern user interface (UI) into the previously flat Blogger themes. Of course, I could find some hints of inspiration from the older veterans but Jago Desain's themes are certainly unique.

While I'm not a programmer myself, Blogger theme designers have captivated my attention greatly and I'd like to discuss them in detail next time.

Please note that I am not sponsored by Jago Desain to promote Fletro Pro v6.0. I am not affiliated in anyway whatsoever other than being a legitimate customer. So, I will disclose my honest opinion about this theme.

Also, if you have question related to Fletro themes, please address it directly to the designer contact support. I'd rather not disclose the documentation of this theme as I wish to respect the intellectual property of Jago Desain.

This article is a form of my appreciation to the designers and to promote my fellow Indonesians creative minds.

How to Protect The Copyright of Your Blogger Articles for Free - Respecting Intellectual Property

Mon, 06 Sep 2021 13:17:29 +0200

People often use the word copyright incorrectly, especially in the context of blogging. A lot of beginners misunderstand the meaning of copyright and how it may affects their blogs. To protect our published articles in Blogger, we have to understand what copyright really is.

Disclaimer, this article is not meant to be a legal advice. I have no formal qualification related to law. So, please do not take my words at face value. Furthermore, I'd like to discuss copyright only in the context of blogging. Leave a comment below if you find incorrect information.

There is a misconception that you need to pay in order to have copyright over your articles. This is absolutely wrong. Copyright is something that you automatically acquire when you create an original writing.

Again, you do not need to pay any money or to register your works to any agency in order to have copyright. Therefore, when you write and publish an original article in your Blogger website, you are the exclusive owner of that article and you automatically have the copyright over it.

You are free to use or distribute your articles. You can also prohibit other people from using your articles. Essentially, you are free to do whatever you want with your original works because you are the copyright holder.

Without a doubt, protecting your copyright is quite important for bloggers. You do not want other people to steal away your traffic and income.

Google is getting smarter when it comes to detecting duplicates. You do not need to worry as much because duplicate contents are usually punished and ranked lower. However, paying attention to your contents copyright is still the responsible thing to do. You don't want the thief to claim that you are the impostor after all.

Copyright Protection in Blogger

Just because you own the copyright, it doesn't mean that other people will respect your ownership. There is no denying that you own the articles. However, bad guys will still try to steal and copy your works without your authorization. Some people may also unintentionally infringe or violate your copyright.

Copyright is meaningless if you do not protect and enforce it. The protection of your articles copyright will require you to constantly monitor the internet.

Now, the process of protecting your copyright can be done by yourself for free or via paid services. There are several things that you can do to deter bad people from using your work without permission.

Before we proceed, I'd like to make it clear that paid copyright protection is not copyright registration. As I have mentioned above, you do not to register or pay to have a copyright. You automatically have the copyright over your original articles or other work. Copyright is free but copyright protection can cost money.

By law, your website contents is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). In a nut shell, it is a law that will provide you with legal standing to enforce your copyright.

Preventive Measures to Deter Copyright Violation

Here is how you can protect your Blogger articles copyright for free:

Make sure that you have a documentation over your writings. You can do this by having a list of your titles, offline drafts, indexing data, doing regular backup, etc.

Put copyright logo and notice on your blog. This way, you can warn your visitors that you are actively protecting your articles. It will not prevent bad guy from stealing but it serves as a deterrent and warning.

Register your blog in DMCA website. The website will provides you with several tools for copyright protection. It offers limited free service and you can upgrade it to premium. Having your website listed is free. It's a good thing to do because it may increase the legitimacy of your copyright claim.

Put DMCA protection badge, for example like this: , on your website. It's free and it can deter potential offenders.

The premium or paid version of the DMCA website can be really expensive and may not be worth it if you are small time blogger like me. The paid version offers feature such as monitoring and take down management.

If your government support it, you may also file your copyright formally. This step will help you greatly in case you ever need to go to the court. However, you may need to pay some fee to file your copyright.

Be careful of any website that claims to provide you with copyright registration. That claim is very misleading. The copyright is already yours, those websites are probably only giving you services to protect your copyright.

Reporting Copyright Infringement in Blogger

Bad people may still violate your copyright even though you have done all of the method I've mentioned above. In that case, you can report copyright infringement through several methods.

First, you can contact the offenders directly. You can respectfully ask them via email or other methods to take down copyrighted contents. You can also warn the offenders of the legal consequences if they keep violating your copyright.

If the offenders ignore your request, you can report it directly to the hosting provider or domain owner. This way, the providers may suspend the offenders' websites.

You can also report copyright infringement to Google directly from the following link: https://support.google.com/legal/troubleshooter/1114905?rd=1

The legal troubleshooter tool will help you to identify your problem and submit a request to Google so that the offending content will be removed.

You need to specify the offending content url and put detailed information as much as possible. You will also be required to provide full real name and email address. Usually Google will not take immediate action. Your removal request will be reviewed. It may take several weeks until the stolen content is removed.

The Google form to request copyright removal in Blogger/Blogspot.

Please note that using Google's legal troubleshooter have a legal consequences behind it. If you file a false report, you may also face a consequences.

The information in this notification is accurate and I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

You will be required to provide signature and fill in a sworn statements. So yeah, copyright infringement is serious business.

I will provide you with more detailed information regarding this Google legal troubleshooter and removal request in the next articles.

The last step, if the violation of your copyright cause a serious financial damage, you can always hire a lawyer and sue the offender. You have every right to take this problem to the court providing that you can prove your copyright claim. Unless if the violations is serious, legal battle in the court will not be worth it because it will cost a lot.

Intellectual Property

To understand copyright, you need to understand what an intellectual property is. Your original creation based on your original thoughts or idea is called intellectual property. It has value even though it is intangible.

There are several type of intellectual properties. The most popular are copyright, trademark, and patent.

Your original articles are considered as intellectual property. It belongs to the copyright category. For your website logo, it belongs to trademark category. Patent on the other hand, related to blue print and tools design.

Copyright and and trademark are regulated by different kind of law. In other words, your articles and your website logo are regulated differently.

To acquire copyright, as I've said before, it's free and automatic. So, according to the law, your articles are automatically copyrighted under your name.

Copyright will last a lifetime and plus 70 years after you are dead. It means that as long as you are alive, you will always own the copyright of your articles. And if you are dead this year in 2021, you articles will still be copyrighted for 70 years more. In the year of 2091, your copyright will expire and the articles will become public domain.

Meanwhile your website logo is regulated by trademark. You need to register and pay some fee in order to trademark your logo. For small website, logo trademarking is not that important.

Conclusion

What I have explained in this article will only scratch the surface. Copyright and intellectual property in general are very complicated issues. However, if you are a beginner blogger, you do not need to be too stressed over it.

All you need to know is that you automatically own the copyright of your original articles, copyright is free, and copyright protection is important. Furthermore, filing a copyright complain is serious matter and may have legal consequences.

We shall discuss more about copyright in the future!

How Many Articles Do You Need to Get AdSense Approval for Blogger?

Wed, 01 Sep 2021 22:03:12 +0200

There is no doubt that AdSense approval process can be tricky. Beginners are often discouraged by vague requirements and multiple rejections. One of the most asked questions is the numbers of the articles needed to get AdSense approval.

AdSense does not provide us with a specific number. That's right, there is no specific requirements on how many articles you need to get approval! So, does that mean that we can get approval with just one article? We will discuss this issue further.

First of all, it may be strange for most people that AdSense does not provide an exact number needed for the approval process. Why does AdSense not provide us with more information? The answer is closely related to quantity versus quality.

Value and Relevancy in AdSense Approval

You need to understand the basic concept of monetization. In order to make money, you need to provide useful services. The goal of AdSense is to reward creators who provide valuable and relevant contents.

Now I shall ask you, does the amount of published articles affect the value and relevancy of your website? The answer is yes, but also no.

Of course, when you provide more articles, the value of your website will increase. If you provide more information, your website will become more relevant.

However, the amount of published articles is irrelevant when the quality of the articles is low. If you have a lot of published articles, but the information is not relevant and useless, then the quantity becomes meaningless.

When you have 1000 articles, but those are articles are not valuable, then you will not get AdSense approval. On the other hand, it you have 10 valuable and relevant articles, then it is possible to get approval.

AdSense value the quality of your articles above the quantity. Therefore, it is not possible to set a specific number. This is the reason why there is no requirement for the amount of published article to get approval.

Again, the value and the relevancy of your articles are the big two factors that will affect your chance if approval.

Now let's revise the question: how many valuable and relevant articles do we need to publish to get AdSense approval? Because AdSense doesn't not provide an exact number, then theoretically you can get approval with just one super valuable and relevant article.

However, in reality, this will not be the case. A website is not just the articles. You need to provide a good website to deliver your content to the users. Your valuable and relevant articles will be useless if your website can not be accessed properly.

The Number of Published Articles Needed to Get AdSense Approval Based on My Experience

In my personal experience, I could get an approval from AdSense with a good functioning website that contains 4 relevant and valuable articles. That happened to me one time. Usually however, I would ask for approval when I have at least 25-30 published articles.

More is always better, as long as they are all good quality.

So does that mean you will get approval with 25 articles? Not always. Again, because AdSense does not use the quantity of the articles to decide approval, it will assess the quality. If they are deemed to be not valuable enough then you need to improve your website.

So in my opinion, the quantity of your articles should not your main focus. If you get rejected, it is not a big deal. Just add more few valuable and relevant articles, then reapply.

Tips For Applying for AdSense

Do not be too fixated on minimum number of published articles.
Quality, relevancy, and then quantity.
Do not be too hasty to apply. The more relevant articles that you have published, your chance of approval will be higher. I'd advice you to apply only when you have at least 30 good articles.
If you are rejected, do not reapply right away. Add 5 more relevant articles every time you got rejected.
Take your time and be patience.

My Essay on The Reality of Blogspot and AdSense Monetization

Mon, 30 Aug 2021 12:19:31 +0200

Monetizing Blogspot with AdSense is among the most misunderstood methods of earning money online. People want to get paid as fast and as much as they can through this particular platform. There is a myth that getting income from the internet is effortless. In reality, this assumption could not be any more wrong!

AdSense and Blogspot are both free to use. You do not need to pay any fee to participate. They are also not that hard to operate. So it is no brainer that people would be attracted to use them. Making money without spending any cost? Everyone obviously would want to do it. However, I'd like to disclose my opinion on this misleading notion.

I have published several articles regarding how to get AdSense approval using Blogspot. This time, I would like to explain what kind of things that you need to do after your blog has been approved so that you can get real income.

Before you proceed, please note that this article only discuss Blogger with free Blogspot domains. For Blogger with custom domains, the reality will be different.

Read also:

AdSense Approval and Earning Income

Yes, it is true that creating a Blogspot account is easy. As long as your blog has enough published articles and meets certain qualities, AdSense approval will not be that hard either. Nevertheless, getting AdSense approval and making substantial income are two different things.

Getting AdSense approval for your Blogspot is arguably easy. However, making actual money from these two platforms are definitely not easy!

Please, keep this point in your mind. When your Blogspot website gets approved by AdSense, it does not mean that you will get money immediately. You will not receive any meaning income instantly.

There are several steps of verification that require weeks or months to complete after the approval process.

You need to verify your ID, PIN, and payment method. These verification processes can only be done after you earn your first $10. For beginner Blogspot and AdSense users, I shall honestly tell you that making $10 will take a long time organically. If you are a newbie, your blog probably will not receive that much visitor. It is not uncommon for a new blog to generate less than $1 per month.

Moreover, you can only withdraw your AdSense income only after you have reached at least $100 in your account balance.

So, if you want to actually make income from AdSense, stop assuming that you will get rich quickly. Stop assuming that you do not need to work hard. Now, you need to start putting some real efforts into your websites and be patience!

If someone tells you that you can make money fast through Blogspot and AdSnese, that person is most likely a scammer.

The Key to Earn Meaningful Income from AdSense

So here is the important keyword, visitors. If your Blogspot website gets a lot of visitor, your income will steadily increase. For a new user, finding a steady source of traffic is a challenging task. It is actually not easy things to do even for experienced users.

To increase the number of the visitors, you need to be consistent with your posting schedule and maintain your articles' quality. Never stop posting and do not ever take a break from making contents if you want to actually earn from AdSense.

People often stop making content consistently after they have received AdSense approval. If you don't make relevant content, then how can you be attracting visitors?

Beginners often ask me, "Can I get AdSense approval with 30 published posts?". Well, you can. But I shall ask you a rhetorical question, do you really think you can make substantial amount of money from AdSense with only 30 published post? Absolutely not. You have to keep writing.

You need to keep your articles fresh, original, and relevant so that people want to spend their time at your Blogspot website. You want to keep your visitor as long as possible inside your blog. Increase your visitor engagement.

In my experience, you will start to get steady income when your blog receives at least 1000 visitors per day from Google Search. Traffic from organic source such as Google is the most valuable. You will not earn as much if your traffic mainly comes from social media or referrals.

Challenge for Blogspot Users

The free domain of Blogspot may become your website's bottleneck. People usually are less inclined to trust websites with blogspot domain. For example, you are more likely to read news from websites that have .com domain. You probably think that news from Blogspot websites are less reliable.

Does Blogspot domain always lose against .com? Not always, some of the articles from this blog are among top 10 in Google Search result. Is there any merit in using free Blogspot domain? Yes, in some cases. For example, Blogspot domain is not that bad if you want to monetize personalized contents. If you are an expert about a particular subject, Blogspot domain is a viable option.

If you insist on using Blogspot domain for AdSense monetization, then you should stay away from general or popular subjects. Bigger websites will most likely beat you. People would read BBC rather than clicking your Blogspot website for cricket news. Be smart with your topic!

There is power in number. One Blogspot website may not provide you with much income. But imagine if you have 50 running websites. One AdSense account can handle multiple Blogspot websites. You can accumulate your income from those blogs. However, this strategy is only realistic if you have time to manage and create contents for 50 Blogspot webs.

In the end, custom domain for Blogger does offer more flexibility on your topic choices. The small downside is that you need to pay about $10 per year. So, if you want to make actual money, do not be a cheapskate, pay the small fee for a .com domain and go compete with other bigger websites!

Is monetizing a Blogspot website worth doing it?

Yes, if you are not expecting a regular income. Think of it as an additional allowance. For some people, getting AdSense approval is a badge of honor. The are not focused on the money. The fact that AdSense approves your Blogspot website is quite a big deal. It gives you a bragging right and it's quite nifty when you can say that "Google paid me", even though it's not much.

If you want to get paid regularly, then you probably need a .com domain or other methods.

Earning substantial income from Blogspot with AdSense program is theoretically possible. However, it is not the most practical thing to do. If you insist on using Blogspot, be ready to face a lot of challenges.

Do not stop creating articles, keep learning, be realistic, and be consistent!

Read also: Does Enabling Google AdSense Affect Blogger Website Ranking?

Good News for Blogger.com Users: AdSense to Show Anchor Ads on Dekstop!

Mon, 05 Jul 2021 14:20:46 +0200

AdSense is one of the best monetization program that can be combined with blogger.com, free blogging platform. If your blog is qualified, you may insert various type of ads inside your articles and themes. One of the ad formats provided by AdSense is called anchor ads.

Previously only available on mobile, anchor ads will now be displayed on wider screens as well, including desktop. AdSense provides you with a chance to get more income by displaying non-intrusive ads to your visitors who use desktop and other wide screen devices.

Anchor ads is small rectangular ads that will be shown on the bottom or top edge of the visitor's screen, after the web page is loaded. The ads will also float or stick to edge of the monitor as the readers scroll up and down. Because of its high visibility, Anchor ads is popular among advertisers.

You can check how AdSense anchor ad will be displayed on desktop through Ad Settings Preview option.

For publishers or AdSense users, this ad format is also quite favored. It is non-intrusive to the visitors because this ads can be dismissed easily.

Anchor ad is a sticky ad that will float along on top of your content. It means that visitors will keep seeing this ads, unless if it is dismissed. That way you will get more ad impression and, thus, the chance of visitors clicking this type of ads will also be higher.

Read also:

How to Enable AdSense Anchor Ad on Desktop

After July 19th, 2021, AdSense anchor ad will be automatically displayed on desktop. If you have enabled anchor ad for mobile viewers, your AdSense account will automatically enable this option.

So, you don't really have to do anything.

If you want to disable anchor ad on desktop, you can choose to do so via your AdSense account. Go to Ads > Overview and you will see a list of your websites at the bottom. Select Edit and on the right sidebar, select Ad formats. If you scroll down, you will see anchor ads setting and its wide screen setting.

You may disable or re-enable this option anytime, but don't forget to select Apply to site every time you modify your ad settings.

AdSense Anchor ad for Desktop

Anchor ad will no longer be exclusive to smaller screen of mobile phones. It means that visitors will start to see anchor ad on their desktop or laptop screens.

Let it be known that you couldn't display sticky AdSense ad on dekstop or laptop before. It means that you could only rely on other formats such as display in-page and in-article ad.

This new anchor ad behavior update is similar to the Vignette ads or full screen ad that appears between page loads. Previously, the vignette ad was only available in smartphone. It was then enabled on desktop as well, just like the new anchor ad.

For blog owners who use AdSense, this is a great news. Now, you get more opportunity and space to display more ads and monetize your desktop views using this updated anchor ad format.

AdSense stated that the anchor ad will behave in a manner that will not disturb visitors. This ad will be loaded only after the visitors scroll down. It means that the ads will not cover your navigation menu if it is loaded on the top edge of the desktop screen.

In my opinion, this new desktop anchor ads will be mostly displayed on the bottom edge of the screen. That way, it will not distract visitors. It won't also cover much of your content. However, as of right now, I don't think there is an option that allow us to determine the anchor ads position.

Nevertheless, anchor ads positioning on desktop should not be a problem as AdSense itself is striving to be less intrusive. Overtime, I believe it will be more optimized.

Should You Enable Anchor Ads on Desktop?

Please be aware that enabling anchor ad on desktop may not immediately show positive effect on your income. Your visitors may be cautious to click this new ad format because they are unfamiliar with the new placement. Some visitors may also think think that the sticky anchor ads on desktop is intrusive, even though it is actually easy to hide.

It is important to find a balance between the amount ads shown on your website and the user-friendliness. Too many ads will in fact chase visitors away. Proportional amount of ads will provide you with optimum income, richer contents, and happy visitors.

How to Fix Valuable Inventory: No Content in AdSense Violation

Mon, 28 Jun 2021 07:55:46 +0200

In order to be accepted by AdSense, you are required to have a website or blog that has been finished. If you submit a website that is still under construction or development, you will be rejected. There are many type of AdSense violations that will cause rejection, one of them is Valuable Inventory: No Content.

This type of rejection is often encountered by beginner bloggers with newly created websites. A lot of people are impatient to monetize their blog. As a result, the rate of AdSense rejection is very high.

The Valuable Inventory: No Content violation is a type of violation that will appear when you apply with a blog that doesn't have enough content or no content at all. It is quite self-explanatory but for beginners, it can be quite confusing.

Read also:

Valuable Inventory: No content is a common AdSense violation.

Fixing Valuable Inventory: No Content

To minimize this type of AdSense violation from happening, you should submit a blog that already has at least 30 well-written articles. You can get approval with less than that. However, when you have a lot of published posts, AdSense will detect that your website is finished and ready to be monetized. Your chance of approval will go up significantly!

Of course, just having a lot of articles will not guarantee approval. A blog that has low quality content may also trigger Valuable Inventory: No content violation. AdSense may asses that your content is worthless.

Therefore, you need to have quality articles. Based on my experience, here are the general characteristics of a well-written article:

Original article, not copied from other websites.
Unique writing style.
Contains at least 800 words.
Contains non-copyrighted image.
Contains internal and external links to reputable source.
Easy to read.
Tidy formatting.

Valuable Inventory: No content will appear when your blog only contain few published posts, few words, only embedded video or image, scrapped articles, machine-generated articles, and so on.

To summarize, you can fix Valuable Inventory: No content violation by having a lot of published posts and those posts have to be high quality.

However, sometimes you may have done those two main things but you still receive this violation. It can happen because of several other reasons:

Broken theme or scripts

AdSense may not be unable to assess the content of your website properly because of errors in your theme or template. Change your theme!

Slow loading speed

AdSense will not be able to asses your website properly if it loads too long. Slow loading speed can be caused by heavy theme or bad server (if you are using non-Blogger platform).

Doing major changes during review period

It generally takes up to two weeks for AdSense to review your blog. If during the review period you did a major modification to your website, AdSense will not be able to complete the review properly, thus you will receive rejection.

Indexing problem

Simply put, indexing is a process to list your website into Google search result. This way visitors will be able to discover your content easily. If your website is private or can not be indexed, AdSense may also be unable to discover your content as well.

Wrong robots.txt setting will cause indexing problem. Do not modify your robots.txt if you do not know what you are doing. For Blogger users, leave the robots.txt setting as default. This way, AdSense crawler will be able to find your blog and review your content.

Do not forget to check how to index your posts using Google Search Console at the following article: "How to Index Blogger Post Using Google Search Console Tool - Basic Search Engine Optimization".

The Key to AdSense Approval is Patience

If you are new blogger, do not be impatient. Build your website well and populate it with a lot of good articles. Monetizing a blog using AdSense can not be done instantly.

Earnings section in Blogger dashboard after AdSense rejection.

For bloggers with few published post, AdSense approval is actually irrelevant. It means that you will not get any meaningful income. So it is better to build your content first, acquire steady visitors, then you can think about monetization.

Please do not forget that monetization is only relevant if you have good content in the first place!

Read also:

How to Use Google Question Hub for Blogger to Create Original Articles

Tips on Getting AdSense Approval for New Blogspot Users

How to Use follow.it to Replace Blogger's FollowByEmail Gadget - Free Feedburner Alternative

How to Use follow.it to Replace Blogger's FollowbyMail Gadget - Free Feedburner Alternative

Mon, 26 Apr 2021 10:24:10 +0200

textBlogger is saying goodbye to the FollowbyMail gadget. This decision came after Feedburner decided to shut down its email subscription service. It means that we can no longer rely on Blogger to send automated email notification to our subscribers whenever we post new articles. As of July 2021, Feedburner will suspend the service. Therefore, an immediate replacement is needed.

Feedburner to Shutdown Email Subscription Service - Blogger's FollowbyEmail No Longer Supported

Fri, 23 Apr 2021 08:18:46 +0200

textFeedburner is slowly being killed off by Google. The 14 years old feed management provider will terminate its email subscription service in July 2021. For Blogger users, this news is quite worrying. FollowbyEmail widget is a Blogger feature that allows your visitor to subscribe to your blog. Whenever you publish a new article, your subscribers will be notified by emails.

How to Create AdSense Account Using Blogspot URL - Fixing "AdSense doesn't know about your blog"

Fri, 23 Apr 2021 07:47:38 +0200

textBlogger.com is one of the few blogging platforms that allows AdSense Monetization. However, this platform underwent a massive update in 2020. The AdSense approval process in Blogger is changed.Nowadays, the new Blogger will provide you with clearer notification when your website is ready for AdSense. If you already have an AdSense account, you do not need to wait for your blog to be qualified

AdSense Sign Up Error - Blogger New Earning Tab Interface Still Unstable

Tue, 13 Apr 2021 14:25:30 +0200

textUpdate April 13th, 2021: For people who are still stuck with "AdSense doesn't know about your blog" problem when registering for new account using blogspot domain, check this new article: How to Create AdSense Account Using Blogspot URL - Fixing "AdSense doesn't know about your blog". Update August 1st, 2020: It appears that Blogger and AdSense have addressed the issue by changing the

Celebrating 100 Subscribers on My YouTube Channel - A Small Happiness

Sat, 27 Feb 2021 17:23:21 +0200

textBefore I had a YouTube channel of my own, I always thought that sub milestone celebration is a little bit lame. Then I decided to upload short videos daily for personal documentation. Suddenly, my subscribers count reached 100 within a month. Boy, did it make me quite happy and revealed my hypocrisy. My past disdain toward YouTube sub celebration may have been a manifestation of